RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) - A special anti-terrorism court rejected the acquittal plea of Opposition Leader in National Assembly Omar Ayub in the GHQ attack case.
The verdict was delivered by Judge Amjad Ali Shah, who had earlier reserved it.
During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Zaheer Shah argued that the acquittal pleas of other accused, including Sheikh Rashid, Shireen Mazari, Amjad Niazi, and Omar Tanveer Butt, had already been dismissed. He further stated that Omar Ayub was named as an accused based on the confessional statements of Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi and Omar Tanveer Butt.
The prosecutor contended that the petition for acquittal could not be approved until the magistrate who recorded the confessional statements appeared before the court. He also pointed out that the acquittal decisions of certain accused in related cases had been challenged in the anti-terrorism court Sargodha.
Dismissing the petition, the court observed that the case was still in its preliminary stages. It noted that serious allegations were involved and that the facts would only become clear after the trial and presentation of evidence.
PTI leader Omar Ayub’s counsel, Babar Awan, had presented arguments in support of the acquittal plea.