Benazir Bhutto assassination case: High court in Pakistan to hear appeal after over 5 years

PTI

Lahore, February 8

A high court in Pakistan on Wednesday fixed a hearing date for the appeals of the first woman prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case after more than five years, according to a media report.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti constituted a special division bench comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf.

The bench will hear eight appeals related to this case on February 9, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Notices were issued to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair and ex-president Asif Zardari, all five accused, late former president Pervez Musharraf and convicted police officers, it said.

A permanent arrest warrant against Musharraf, who was accused in the case, is pending. However, the appeal against him is likely to be dismissed following his demise on February 5.

Of the five accused, Aitzaz, Sher Zaman and Hasnain will appear before the court, while Abdul Rasheed is imprisoned in Adiala Jail. The fifth accused, Rafaqaat, is missing, the report said.

Two police officers in the case, Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad are on bail. Both were sentenced to 17 years in prison and a fine of Rs 1 million.

Benazir was killed in a gun-grenade attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. She was reportedly killed by a 15-year-old suicide bomber.

The former prime minister had asked Musharraf for greater security, including tinted windows, jammers, private guards, and additional police vehicles. However, he denied more security.

Over 20 party workers were also killed and 71 others were injured in the attack.

Tehreek-e-Taliban, a radical terrorist organisation, was believed to have ordered her killing. Benazir in 1988 had become the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority state.

Fifteen years after Benazir’s assassination, her killers are yet to face the law as her trial remains shrouded in mystery despite various national and international inquiries, the report said.

In the aftermath of the incident, four inquiries were conducted into the case with the police joint investigation team (JIT), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the United Nations (UN) and Scotland Yard striving to solve the matter, it said.

However, these inquiries and investigations yielded no results as the Bhutto family did not pursue the case in the special anti-terrorism court.

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