Asad Umar, the head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been cleared in five terrorist charges connected to the riots of May 9, according to ARY News, which published the news on Saturday.
The PTI leader is no longer sought in the five terrorist cases, according to the investigation officer (IO), who testified in court.
According to ARY News, Asad Umar was detained in three cases—three at the Sarwar Road police station, one each at the Race Course and Gulberg police stations in Lahore.
Violent altercations broke out throughout Pakistan on May 9 when PTI leader and former prime minister Imran Khan was brought into jail at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Rallies were organized in both small and populated places as a result of the party workers’ unrest at the imprisonment of their chairman, and Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad all requested the use of force to preserve law and order. Army facilities and the home of the corps commander in Lahore came under assault during a protest by PTI supporters.
Umar’s request for temporary release was denied by the anti-terrorism court in the meanwhile because he had not submitted surety guarantees in instances involving the violence on May 9.
In the cypher investigation case, Umar’s bail was last week extended till September 14.
Asad Umar arrived before Judge Abu Al-Hasnat Zulqarnain’s court with his attorney, Babar Awan. The special court extended Asad Umar’s bail till September 14. According to Pakistan Today, Umar said that cipher is a confidential document that cannot leave the foreign office in his testimony after the renewal of his bail.
The cypher issue started on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan displayed a letter only days before he was overthrown, saying it was a cypher from a foreign country that called for the overthrow of his administration.
After his principal secretary Azam Khan testified before a magistrate and the Federal Investigation Agency that the former PM had used the US cypher for his “political gains” and to prevent a vote of no confidence against him, the cypher case against the former premier took a serious turn, according to Geo News.
According to the former bureaucrat’s confession, he was “euphoric” when he gave the ex-premier the cipher and called the language a “US blunder” at the time. Azam quotes the ex-prime minister as saying that the cable may be used to “create a narrative against establishment and opposition.”
According to Geo News, Azam said that the PTI chairman utilized the US cypher at political events despite his recommendation to refrain from doing so.
