Hamid Raza ‘surrenders’ to police in May 9 case

FAISALABAD:

Chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and former member of the National Assembly, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, has been taken into police custody and moved to Faisalabad Central Jail to serve a 10-year prison sentence.

Earlier, his brother Sahibzada Hassan Raza said Hamid Raza had been detained by police while travelling from Peshawar to Faisalabad. However, a post on Hamid Raza’s X account stated that he had been travelling to Faisalabad to surrender himself to the authorities.

https://x.com/_SahibzadaHamid/status/1986658253040984252

PTI chairperson Barrister Gohar Ali Khan confirmed to the media outside Parliament that, “Hamid Raza surrendered himself — it was entirely his own decision.”

PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan also posted regarding the situation, claiming that Hamid Raza was “abducted” last night in Islamabad.

“Sahibzada Hamid Raza sahib, my dear friend and colleague, has been abducted from Islamabad late last night whilst en route to surrender in the conviction awarded by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad.”

Read: PTI men convicted in more May 9 cases

In his latest post on X, Hamid Raza stated that he had appeared in an anti-terrorism court (atc) in Faisalabad and then transferred to Central Jail Faisalabad to await the court’s decision.

In July, an atc in Faisalabad had charged Raza along with several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, in connection with a case registered in the aftermath of May 9.

Hamid Raza was wanted in multiple cases of vandalism and violent protests and has already been convicted by an atc with a 10-year prison sentence. The case was registered at the Civil Lines police station.

Read more: Hamid Raza quits TTAP office

Sahibzada Hamid Raza had been elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Faisalabad’s NA-104 constituency in the general elections. Following his disqualification due to the conviction, the Election Commission has issued a schedule for a by-election in his constituency. According to the schedule, polling is set to take place on 23 November.

Two days before Hamid Raza’s arrest, former PTI MPA Junaid Afzal Sahi from Faisalabad’s PP-98 constituency — who had been sentenced to three years in the May 9 case — also surrendered himself to the authorities and was subsequently sent to jail.

On May 9, 2023, PTI lawmakers and supporters attacked military installations across Pakistan in the wake of Imran’s arrest by paramilitary Rangers.

Later, the government launched a heavy-handed crackdown against the former ruling party while registering FIRs against thousands of people including PTI founder Imran Khan.

Over 100 PTI workers and supporters were also handed over to military authorities for their trial in military courts.