Bushra Bibi, the wife of imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan, was released from custody on Tuesday by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on 12 charges about the unrest on May 9 that followed her husband’s imprisonment in 2017. On May 9, 2018, nationwide demonstrations broke out in response to Imran’s removal from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) due to allegations of corruption by the paramilitary Rangers. Social media was overrun with videos of looting and vandalism during the protests, from the army’s head office in Rawalpindi, General Headquarters, to the mansion of the Lahore Corps Commander.
The ATC denied petitions last week that sought post-arrest bail for Bushra and requested that the police wrap up their investigation into the cases in a week. Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb has sent a petition asking for specifics of the cases against her to the Chief Justice of the IHC.
Judge Malik Ejaz Asif of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) dismissed the former first lady from 12 cases about the May 9 riots as he was hearing the case against her. Speaking to the media outside of Adiala jail, Bushra’s attorney Salman Safdar claimed that the court had denied the Rawalpindi police’s request for a physical remand. According to Safdar, the court’s ruling from today is probably going to have an impact on the PTI founder’s cases.
