“153 PTI Workers Granted Bail in D-Chowk Protest Case”

ISLAMABAD: On Friday, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad granted bail to 153 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers who were detained during a crackdown at D-Chowk on November 26. The law enforcement agencies’ raid, aimed at dispersing PTI supporters protesting in the area, led to the arrest of hundreds of party activists, as reported by a leading newspaper.

ATC Judge Abul Hassan Mohammad Zulkarnain presided over the hearing, which addressed bail petitions for 177 PTI workers. Following the proceedings, the court approved bail for 153 activists while rejecting the pleas of 24 others. Legal representation for the PTI workers included prominent lawyers Ansar Kayani, Sardar Masroof Khan, Mirza Aslam Baig, Fatullah Burki, and Murtaza Turi.

Details of bail approvals varied across police jurisdictions. At Karachi Company Police Station, 48 workers were charged, with bail granted to 43 and five petitions dismissed. Similarly, seven cases were registered at Tarnol Police Station, where two activists received bail, and five were denied. At I-9 Police Station, bail was granted to nine of the ten detained workers, with one application rejected.

Case number 1033, registered at Kohsar Police Station, saw 28 individuals granted bail, while five petitions were rejected. All 25 detainees at the Secretariat Police Station received bail. Meanwhile, at Margala Police Station, 45 cases were registered, resulting in bail for 42 activists, while three applications were denied. The court set the bail amount at a surety bond of 5,000 Pakistani Rupees (PKR) for each granted petition.

This is not the first instance of PTI activists receiving bail. On January 3, the Islamabad ATC granted bail to 250 PTI workers who were arrested on November 26. Earlier in January, 192 PTI workers detained at Jhelum District Jail were released after their bail applications were approved by the ATC.

The arrests followed PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s call for nationwide protests on November 24, demanding the restoration of the party’s electoral mandate, the release of detained party members, and a reversal of what he termed the “dictatorial regime” solidified by the November 26 polls. During the subsequent crackdown, Islamabad and Rawalpindi police reportedly detained over 1,400 suspects, according to the Islamabad police chief.

Human rights organization Amnesty International has since called for a transparent investigation into the government’s “lethal action” to disperse PTI supporters at D-Chowk, raising concerns over human rights violations and excessive use of force.