May 9 riots in Pakistan: 20 prisoners released after an Army commander mercy ahead of Eid

In the run-up to Eid, the military authorities have freed at least twenty individuals who were found guilty by military tribunals of being involved in the May 9 violence that broke out after the arrest of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan last year, after Army commander General Asim Munir pardoned them.

The federal administration shared the judgment with the Supreme Court on Monday. The Court has been considering a series of intra-court appeals (ICAs) against its majority decision from October 23, 2023, which declared the military trials of civilians unconstitutional.

The ICAs have been heard by a six-person panel of the supreme court, which consists of Justices Aminuddin Khan, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Musarrat Hilali, and Irfan Saadat Khan.

In this case, 103 people are on trial for their claimed roles in assaults on important Army posts during the riots that broke out after the detention of Khan, the person who founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

During the riots, several Pakistani government and military facilities—including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi—were set on fire or suffered damage. More than a hundred police and security agency cars were set ablaze.

The court conditionally permitted military officials to publish the judgments of just those May 9 defendants who may be freed prior to the Eid celebration during the most recent hearing, which took place on March 28.

According to the report submitted to the Supreme Court, the military courts were permitted to reopen trials in compliance with its directives from March 28. As a result, sentencing in instances with less severe penalties were issued.

It said that 20 people received one-year sentences, of whom 17 have completed 10.5 months and 3 have completed 9.5 months. The Army commander commuted the remaining portion of their sentence since the majority of them had already spent around ten months in prison.

Of them, 16 are from Punjab and four are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On April 7 and 6, they were let free in their respective provinces.

Twenty people were listed by the Pakistani Attorney General’s office before the Supreme Court so that their records might be included.

On October 23, last year, a five-member Supreme Court panel made up of Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Ayesha Malik unanimously decided that it was against the country’s Constitution to trial the accused civilians in military tribunals. Additionally, the judges had decided that civilian criminal courts should handle their trial.

Following a series of ICAs, the court on December 13 of last year, by a majority vote of 5 to 1, postponed the judgment until the resolution of the appeals. The defense ministry, the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, as well as the then-caretaker federal government, submitted the appeals.

The court postponed the hearing until the last week of April, therefore the final decision in the civilian problem trial by the military courts is still waiting.

Following the riot, hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party members and leaders were taken into custody; however, the military tribunals only decided to try individuals who were allegedly engaged in assaults on Army facilities.