ATC hears May 12, 2007 mayhem cases

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court here on Saturday resumed hearing of four cases pertaining to the May 12, 2007 mayhem, ARY News reported.

Mayor Waseem Akhtar and 20 other accused nominated in the cases appeared in the court.

Police produced an absconding accused, Abdul Zahid, before the ATC judge who ordered provision of a copy of the charge-sheet to him for perusal. The judge ruled that he would indict the accused on the next hearing after an amendment to charges.

It is pertinent to mention here that the mayor and other suspects had already been indicted in the case.

Earlier, on Dec 23, the police informed the administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts that eleven out of the 65 cases regarding the May 12, 2007 riots which were closed with the approval of a relevant court had been reopened.

The police submitted a report to the judge, stating that 11 cases regarding the May 12, 2007 riots which claimed at least 50 lives in Karachi had been reopened and assigned to the Anti-terrorism Court-II for hearing.

In Sept this year, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered reopening the cases regarding the May 12, 2007 mayhem.

The verdict came on a plea to reopen the 65 cases which had been declared A Class (proceedings in the case stopped with the approval of the court).

On May 12, 2007, at least 50 people were killed and over 100 wounded in attacks on rallies of different political parties and the legal fraternity, who had attempted to receive the then deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at the Karachi airport ahead of a lawyers’ gathering.

Justice Chaudhry was forced to fly back to Islamabad after nine hours of being restricted to the airport.