An anti-terrorism court judge, hearing the cases related to attacks on military installations in May last year by workers of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, has accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI of harassing him and his family members to get desired verdicts.
Anti-Terrorism court judge (Sargodha) Muhammad Abbas has written a letter to the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan informing him how spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials harassed him and his family members.
The judge has been hearing the cases against Opposition leader in parliament Omar Ayub and other workers of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) related to attacks on military installations in May last year.
Ayub had alleged that last week at a hearing in a case in Sargodha ATC judge Abbas was made hostage by the intelligence agencies.
In March, six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reached out to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) informing alleged intrusion of intelligence operatives in judicial matters. The six judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council members, regarding alleged attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.
All judges of IHC also unanimously acknowledged that intelligence agencies are interfering in their judicial functions.
The judges accused the intelligence operatives of coercing them to extract desired verdicts in the case of former prime minister Imran Khan and other PTI leaders. Khan has been in jail since August last year in different cases.