FIA challenges Benazir Bhutto murder case, claims irrefutable evidences
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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging the Anti-Terrorism Court's decision in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
The petition, filed in the LHC's Rawalpindi bench, maintains that the FIA has irrefutable evidence against the acquitted suspects.
The verdict announced by ATC Judge Asghar Khan at Adiala Jail had cleared the five accused in the case, sentenced two former police officials and declared former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf as an absconder.
Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul, who were indicted by the ATC in November 2008, were cleared of all charges. The five accused had been charged for killing, hatching criminal conspiracy to kill, abetting the perpetrators, using illegal explosive material and spreading terrorism on Dec 27, 2007 when 22 people, including the former premier, were killed in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, when she was leaving after holding an election rally.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) has also challenged the ATC's decision. Saud Aziz, who was the police chief in Rawalpindi at the time of Bhutto’s assassination, and former Rawal Town SP Khurram Shahzad, were sentenced to 17 years each and were ordered to pay a fine of Rs0.5 million each by the ATC.
