President Arif Alvi on Friday appeared before an anti-terrorism court in a case pertaining to the attack on Pakistan Television (PTV) and Parliament House during a sit-in by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2014.
Alvi along with other PTI leaders was nominated in the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 during the government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
During the hearing, President Alvi, represented by his counsel Babar Awan, urged the court to treat him as an “ordinary citizen”, saying that he did not want to avail the presidential immunity granted under Article 248 of the Constitution.
Alvi informed the judge that he could avail the presidential immunity but he would not do so as he believed “there should be no difference between anyone”.
“I appeared in the court so no one could say that I skipped court proceedings,” he said, alluding to the verdict that will be announced on March 9.
Alvi said a case against him was registered in Sialkot after he became president. “I did not seek immunity and contested the case that resulted in my acquittal.”
He urged the judiciary to adjudicate cases at the earliest to provide justice to the people of Pakistan. “My father filed a case in 1977 but the decision on his appeal is still pending,” Alvi added.
On August 31, 2014, in an attempt to topple the then PML-N government, the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers had marched towards the Prime Minister’s House and the police were ordered to thwart their march.
Subsequent clashes between the protesters and law enforcers resulted in the deaths of three PAT workers. Hundreds of others, including both demonstrators and policemen, were wounded.
Hundreds of protesters, allegedly belonging to the PTI and PAT, had briefly seized and shut down the state broadcaster on September 1, 2014, at a time when the country was in the grip of an intense political crisis spearheaded by Imran, PAT's leader Tahir-ul-Qadri and others.
The protesters had stormed the PTV headquarters on Constitution Avenue and transmission of the PTV News and PTV World was cut off for almost half-an-hour. Later, army troops had cleared the buildings and transmission was restored.
The FIR was registered on a complaint by Secretariat SHO Inspector Mehboob Ahmed. In his application, the complainant said that the protesters attacked the government building after snatching weapons from policemen.