ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Thursday admitted appeals filed by former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, seeking capital punishment for his predecessor, two senior police officers and five other suspects in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

The court’s decision coincided with the first time that retired Gen Pervez Musharraf – who is the primary accused in the matter – accused Mr Zardari of being responsible for the murders of Benazir and her brother, Murtaza Bhutto.

Mr Zardari had challenged the verdict announced by a Rawalpindi anti terrorism court (ATC) on Aug 31, when ATC Judge Asghar Ali Khan acquitted five suspects who allegedly belonged to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Instead, the court convicted retired additional inspector general (AIG) Saud Aziz and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khurram Shehzad, sentencing them to 17 years each in prison.

Court summons ATC record; Zardari claims judge ignored UN commission report

In the same verdict, the ATC judge separated the trial of Musharraf, declared him an absconder and initiated the process to confiscate his properties.

Mr Zardari has challenged the separation of Musharraf’s trial, the acquittal of the five TTP men, and has sought the maximum penalty – the death sentence – for the two police officers.

A bench, consisting of Justice Tariq Abbasi and Justice Habibullah Amir, heard initial arguments on the appeal, summoned the entire record of the ATC proceedings and adjourned further hearings until Nov 27.

In Musharraf’s case, the PPP chief has requested the court to set aside the order of May 8, 2017 and the ATC judgment of Aug 31.

The trial of Musharraf may be completed under Section 19(10) of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 and he may be awarded exemplary punishment on all charges, in accordance with the law, the petition states.

Regarding the five TTP men, Mr Zardari has appealed to the LHC to set aside their acquittal, asking that their trial may be entrusted to the ATC once again, and they may be awarded death sentences.

He has also requested that the non-bailable arrest warrants be issued for all the accused and they be kept under judicial custody.

In the appeals, Mr Zardari maintains that Musharraf, Aziz and Shehzad cannot escape the gallows in this case.

His counsel told the court that Musharraf had issued threats to Benazir Bhutto because he considered her the greatest threat to his rule. Bhutto was murdered as a result of a conspiracy, he claimed.

After her homecoming rally was attacked in Karachi on Oct 18, 2007, she wrote an email to American lobbyist Mark Siegel, explaining that Musharraf had threatened her and that she was not allowed to keep private security.

She also wrote that if anything happened to her, Musharraf should be held responsible.

According to the appeal, FIR No. 471/2007 was registered under sections 302, 324, 435, 436, 120(b), 119, 201 and 109/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) with sections 4/5 of the Explosive Substance Act and section 7 of the ATA at the Rawalpindi city police station, where the complainant was Inspector Kashif Riaz.

Initial investigation was conducted by Punjab Police and Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gull were arrested on Feb 7, 2008 and they confessed on Feb 13.

Aitzaz Shah was arrested on Jan 21, 2008 and confessed on Feb 16, 2008, while Rasheed Ahmed was arrested on Feb 14, 2008 and confessed to the crime the next day.

As per the appeals, all five had confessed and incriminating material was also recovered from them.

In its report dated Feb 8, 2008, Scotland Yard opined that Bhutto died of a severe head injury, caused by the bomb blast, while the United Nations Commission said in its report: “The commission is persuaded that the Rawalpindi police chief, CPO Saud Aziz, did not act independently of higher authorities, either in the decision to hose down the crime scene or to impede the post-mortem examination.”

The official press conference held by Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, then-director general of the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) the day after the assassination was held at the orders of Musharraf, thus incriminating him, the appeal said.

The appeal stated the investigations were subsequently entrusted to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and a high-powered JIT probed the matter. The FIA indentified 15 accused, of whom Baitullah Mehsud, Ubaidur Rehman, Qari Ismail, Nasraullah Ahmed and Abdullah Saddam were killed in drone attacks or in skirmishes with security forces.

Faiz Mohammad and Ikramullah were declared proclaimed offenders, Aitzaz Shah was tried under juvenile laws, while Musharraf absconded and his trial was segregated.

Mr Zardari claimed that the UN Commission had pointed towards those in power at the time, but that report was ignored in the ATC judgement.

He also expressed the apprehension that a post-mortem was not conducted at the behest of Musharraf, further alleging that both police officers were privy to the entire conspiracy.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017