GUJRANWALA:  In a major move, a Gujranwala anti-terrorism court sentenced on Saturday 51 defendants to five years each in prison in a case relating to the May 9 riots in the country that occurred last year.

Natasha Naseem Supra, an ATC judge, heard the case relating to vandalism at Gujranwala Cantt, in which 23 PTI officials, including former ruling party founder Imran and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi as well as 400 other suspects were named.

The court announced a brief verdict and sentenced each of the accused to five years in prison. Some were arrested at the vandalism scene, while others were arrested using geo-fencing.

ATC will provide a more detailed decision later.

The police claim that no PTI leaders or office-bearers were among the 51 convicts sentenced today.

In the beginning, the police nominated in this case 23 PTI leaders and over 200 unidentified suspects. After the police questioned the suspects, the number of persons nominated reached 400.

During the trial 199 witnesses gave testimony in court.

Qureshi, the PTI founder incarcerated at Adiala Jail for the Gujranwala Cantt arson and vandalism case was also questioned by the Gujranwala Police. According to police, the former prime minister did not cooperate and requested his lawyers to provide a response.

After the arrest of the former prime minister in the PS 190 million settlement case, the riots on May 9 were almost all over the country. PTI leaders and workers were arrested for violence and attacking military installations.

During the protests the miscreants attacked civil and military facilities including Jinnah House and General Headquarters (GHQ), in Rawalpindi. The military declared May 9 as “Black Day”, and decided to prosecute the protesters in accordance with the Army Act.