World News | Pakistan will punish May 9 arsonists by law, as US did with Capitol Hill rioters: PM Sharif

Karachi, Pakistan, May 26 (Xinhua) — Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif said on Friday that the Pakistani government has every right to bring to justice those individuals responsible for the unprecedented violence on May 9, similar to what the U.S. government did to storm the Pakistani capital. actions taken by citizens. Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.

Violent protests erupted across the country following the arrest of Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI), in the Islamabad High Court on May 9. The government ensued a massive crackdown on PTI leaders and workers, arresting thousands on charges of attacking civilian and military installations.

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The chaotic politics culminated in the desecration of state martyrs and security facilities on May 9, Sharif said at a groundbreaking ceremony for a water supply project here.

In response to Khan’s arrest, supporters of Khan vandalized more than a dozen military installations, including the army commander’s residence in Lahore, the Mianwali air base and the ISI building in Faisalabad.

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Mobs also stormed the Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi for the first time.

Police put the death toll in the violence at 10, while Khan’s party claimed 40 of its workers were killed in fire from security personnel.

“Today, in Quaid City, we are all ashamed of what happened in Lahore on May 9. Justice calls for the punishment of perpetrators like the Capitol rioters on January 6, 2021. If such punishment is lawful , then no one should object to us doing this under our laws to desecrate our martyrs,” Prime Minister Sharif said.

A group of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, January 6, 2021

Chaos has erupted as the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives meet to prove Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar defended the federal government’s decision to try those involved in attacks on state and army installations under the Pakistan Army Act of 1952, saying incidents of arson and vandalism cannot be condoned by any country.

“What country in the world does not respond to acts of arson and vandalism? Everyone has seen the reaction to the attack on Capitol Hill,” she said Tuesday.

On May 17, Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders approved a decision made a day earlier at a meeting of regiment commanders to invoke the strict Pakistan Army Act of 1952 and the Official Secrets Act of 1923 against those involved in the May 9 riots staff.

The government launched a massive crackdown on PTI leaders and workers, arresting thousands on charges of attacking civilian and military installations.

Khar claimed that no country offered her any advice on trying arsonists under the Army Act. “However, all countries are concerned about the unrest in Pakistan,” she added.

In response to the political crisis in Pakistan, the US said it was monitoring the situation.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday: “We continue to monitor the situation in Pakistan closely. We have no position on political candidates in Pakistan.”

“We call for the respect and equal application of democratic principles, freedom of expression and the rule of law around the world and of course in Pakistan we urge all to respect these principles,” he said.public transport

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)