LHC to hear Benazir murder case appeal after 5 years


After five and a half years, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday finally fixed a hearing date for the appeals of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder case

Chief Justice of the LHC 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 (tomorrow)

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

Read SC never fixed Musharraf’s anti-conviction plea Musharraf was accused in the case and his permanent arrest warrant is pending

After his death, however, the appeal against him is likely to be dismissed

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

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 Rs1 million

Unsolved mystery On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated after she had addressed an election rally in the historic Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi

She was reportedly killed by a 15-year-old suicide bomber

Fifteen years after the assassination of the first woman premier of a Muslim country, her killers are yet to face justice as her trial remains shrouded in mystery despite various national and international inquiries

One of the most important high-profile cases of the country's chequered history still lies pending in the LHC Rawalpindi bench

Read More 12 TTP terrorists killed Over 20 party workers were also killed and 71 others were seriously injured in the attack on the former premier

In the aftermath of the incident, four inquiries were conducted into the high-profile 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

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



Date:09-Feb-2023 Reference:View Original Link