ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, his sisters Bukhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari and the party rejected the verdict announced by the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC), Rawalpindi, in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday termed the verdict ‘disappointing and unacceptable.’ He took to Twitter to state that the decision was not only unjust but also dangerous and the PPP would explore legal options.
While the daughters of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto — Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari — in their tweets also expressed their reservations about the verdict. “There would be no justice until former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf answered for his crimes,” tweeted Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.
Assefa’s elder sister Bakhtawar also called for the arrest of Pervez Musharraf and she tweeted, “Musharraf ordered crime scene washed and doors locked trapping Benazir Bhutto inside vehicle.”
Meanwhile, the PPP in its formal reaction expressed disappointment and shock over the verdict announced that itwould also employ legal instruments to mount its claim to become a party to the case and file an appeal against the verdict.
“The party believes that justice has not been done, nor it seems to have been done,” said PPP Spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar while giving a formal reaction of the PPP after a meeting chaired by former president Asif Ali Zardari here Thursday which was attended by the top PPP leadership after the Anti-Terrorist Court announced its judgment.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the acquittal of al-Qaeda/Taliban terrorists against whom evidence had been provided was most surprising and raised several questions. “On its face, it seems a triumph of al-Qaeda militants,” he said.
The PPP stated that the two police officers had been convicted and sentenced. “But the question as to who had ordered them to wash out the place of occurrence and destroy crucial evidence has not been addressed. The conviction of the police officers will remain weak unless those giving orders to them are also tried and convicted,” Senator Farhatullah Babar said.
The PPP spokesman said it was worth noting that the prosecutor in the case Chaudhry Zulfiqar was assassinated just when he had reached the critical stage and set to oppose the bail application of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
He said it might be noted that the FIR in the case was got registered by the Punjab Police without consulting the family and without making the PPP a party to it.Senator Farhatullah Babar said the party recalled the apprehensions expressed by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir about the plot to assassinate her. It was common knowledge and she had stated it in clear words that Musharraf had threatened her if she returned to Pakistan before the elections, her life would be in danger.
He said since the PPP was not a party to the case, it demanded of the government to immediately file an appeal against the verdict. “The PPP will also employ legal instruments to mount its claim to become a party to the case and file an appeal against the verdict,” he said. He said the party would give a detailed response after full judgment was made public.
Meanwhile, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Secretary General Dr Muhammad Amjad reacting to the ATC verdict said that the judgment did not fulfill the criteria of justice. “The ATC judgment is in contrast to the challan submitted by the investigation, testimonies of witnesses and material evidence. It seems that the judgment is either influenced or compromised. The court even acquitted those persons who confessed their involvement and some of the responsible for the murder of Benazir Bhutto were those who took maximum benefit from this tragedy,” he said.
General (retd) Pervez Musharraf at the time of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination was the president of Pakistan and he was not involved in dealing with the trivial district administration or security affairs. Moreover, the allegations related to non-provision of security to Benazir Bhutto were baseless and sheer out of malice, Dr Amjad said.
Pervez Musharraf’s name was not included in the first challan and the PPP government included his name just to soothe the sentiments of party workers and to decrease its ever-increasing embarrassment. At first it was said that the case of Pervez Musharraf had been separated but the way this judgment had been announced showed that it was issued in a hasty manner. Dr Amjad said that they would file an appeal before the high court against this judgment as the superior courts started adjudicating as per law and the Constitution. “We are hopeful to get justice from high court,” he said.
Criticising the ATC judgment, Dr Amjad said that the three out of five accused who were acquitted confessed to their involvement in this murder as facilitator. They told the court that some of their accomplices died while five of them arrested. Dr Amjad said that the arrested persons had nexus with the real culprits and masterminds.With the acquittal of five persons from the court, now the real masterminds of this heinous murder had gone far off and chances for their getting prosecuted minimised.
