By Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD
A murder case has been lodged against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in connection with the killing of four opposition activists during a rally in Islamabad in August.
The Islamabad district court granted a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf opposition party of former cricketer Imran Khan to order police to lodge the case against 11 people including Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and senior police officers.
The activists were killed on August 20 when police tried to stop thousands of opposition supporters from storming the parliament to force Sharif to stand down over allegations of electoral fraud from last year’s general election.
The police claimed they fired rubber bullets and tear gas to stop the protesters, equipped with nail-studded sticks and hammers, but medical reports later showed the victims had been hit by regular rounds.
More than 500 people were injured in the protests, including 100 policemen, last month.
This is the second murder case lodged against Sharif and his cabinet in less than a month. A case was lodged last month over the murder of 14 Pakistan Awami Tehrik supporters in a clash with police in north-eastern city of Lahore in June.
Several cases have already been lodged against Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri, leader of the Pakistan Awami Tehrik opposition, on charges of inciting violence, storming parliament and the state-owned television station and injuring security force members.
Around 3,000 supporters of the two opposition parties set off from Lahore on August 14 and arrived in the capital the next day to stage a sit-in in front of parliament, demanding Sharif’s resignation and a fresh general election.
Their demands have been rejected by the government and mainstream opposition parties.
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