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Jailed PTI Leaders Urge CJP Yahya Afridi for Early Hearing of May 9 Riot Appeals
Several jailed PTI leaders have written to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi seeking an early hearing of their appeals against 10-year convictions in the May 9 riots case, saying they have been in jail for 34 months and justice is being delayed.
ND
by News Desk
2026-03-16
Jailed PTI Leaders Urge CJP Yahya Afridi for Early Hearing of May 9 Riot Appeals

Several incarcerated leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have written a letter to Yahya Afridi, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, requesting an early hearing of their appeals against convictions in a case linked to the May 9 riots in Pakistan, it emerged on Monday.

According to the letter, copies of which are available with media outlets, senior PTI leaders Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry, and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed appealed for judicial intervention, stating that their constitutional rights were being compromised due to prolonged delays in the hearing of their appeals.

On July 22, 2025, a Lahore Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) sentenced the PTI leaders and several others to 10 years in prison in connection with violence at Sherpao Bridge during protests that followed the political unrest of May 9.

In their letter, the jailed leaders said they had been “law-abiding citizens of Pakistan” but were now facing what they described as political victimisation. They added that they had been imprisoned for the past 34 months.

The leaders further stated that appeals against their convictions were filed soon after the sentencing before the Lahore High Court, but the cases had yet to be heard.

“Despite filing our appeals eight months ago, neither the appeals nor the suspension of our sentences has been taken up for hearing,” the letter stated.

They also mentioned that their legal counsel had submitted a petition seeking an early hearing about three months earlier, but the request had not produced any results.

“Our families have been running from pillar to post without any response,” the letter read, highlighting the difficulties faced by relatives seeking progress in the legal process.

Invoking the legal principle that justice delayed is justice denied, the PTI leaders requested the chief justice to issue instructions to the Lahore High Court for an expedited hearing of their appeals and suspension of sentences.

Addressing the chief justice directly, the letter stated: “Sir, as you expedited the court regarding our trial and early disposal, please expedite our appeals and suspension order also.”

The appeal comes amid a broader crackdown launched by the state against Imran Khan, the founder of PTI, and members of his party following the May 9 riots in 2023, when protests erupted across the country after the former prime minister’s arrest.

In the case involving the jailed leaders, the Sarwar Road Police had registered charges against PTI leaders and workers for allegedly ransacking and setting public property on fire at Sherpao Bridge in the Cantonment area during the demonstrations.
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