Aleema Khan’s attempt to walk away from charges related to the 26 November D-Chowk protest hit a wall as the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court (ATC) rejected her acquittal plea.
ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah announced the reserved decision, siding with the prosecution after hearing both sides in court.
Aleema Khan’s lawyer, Faisal Malik, argued that her only ‘crime’ was visiting her brother, former prime minister Imran Khan, in jail during the protest. Malik insisted Aleema did nothing wrong beyond passing on Imran Khan’s message to the public and party, saying that peaceful protests are protected by the constitution. He noted that Aleema spread the protest message through the media, yet neither any journalist nor media outlet was called to testify.
During the proceedings, the court questioned whether this meant the media should also be implicated, but the defence clarified they only meant that Aleema and reporters conveyed the same information, and no witnesses were present when the jail conversation happened.
The court pressed further, asking if Aleema had simply passed on the protest message. Malik agreed, saying the charges don’t prove the case against her. He stressed that, according to the law, conveying a message does not make someone automatically guilty, arguing that the sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act cited offer no proof of wrongdoing. “This case isn’t legally solid – it’s just political revenge,” Malik claimed.
Prosecutor Zaheer Shah responded that Aleema was charged under five provisions of the ATA, based on the investigation. He stated that organisers steer the protest, not the media. “Protest control lies with those who organise it,” he argued, explaining the media had no direct role and didn’t bring people onto the streets.
He noted that protestors themselves confessed to organising the event, so making the media witnesses wasn’t necessary. Shah pointed out how Aleema’s media interviews were read out in court, highlighting that any protest must remain lawful. The prosecutor insisted that Aleema and others organised a violent rally with the aim to topple the government.
“During her media talk, Aleema said the PTI founder called for the protest, NOC or not. That’s not peaceful,” the prosecutor said.
He detailed how one police officer lost his life, 170 others were injured, and businesses across Pakistan suffered due to the rally. “The accused openly admitted, ‘We shut
