The unresolved political whodunit

While few in the legal fraternity blame Musharraf, others point fingers at PPP govt


Hasnaat Mailk December 27, 2017
PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: Ten years on, state institutions are still clueless about the masterminds behind former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

The case was investigated by the United Nations, Scotland Yard, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Punjab police during the decade but no agency could reach the real mastermind behind BB’s murder.

A senior FIA official, who is associated with this matter, also admitted that the investigation could have been much better. He revealed that both the state and the court had yet to take any step to bring to justice former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had already been declared proclaimed offender in the case.

An anti-terrorism court, while announcing its judgment in the BB murder case on August 31, observed that during the trial Musharraf’s application for exemption from personal attendance was accepted by the then Judge of ATC-I. Till the conclusion of the prosecution evidence and at the time fixed for recording his statement, he was repeatedly summoned by the court and his non-bailable warrants were also issued April 2017. On April 29, FIA Deputy Director Shahab Azeem recorded his statement regarding non-execution of the warrants.



Before initiating proceedings against Musharraf as an accused, an option was given to him to record his statement through video link or Skype. But even then he did not respond. Resultantly, the court was left with no other option except to separate his trial.

The Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) senior lawyers believe that Musharraf is the mastermind of the assassination.

Top PPP lawyer Latif Khosa, who is purusing the BB case on behalf of the Bhutto family, believes that the UN report had made clear who the masterminds were.

He said the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Baitulah Mehsood was used to kill the PPP leader and the local administration led by Musharraf was allegedly involved in facilitating it, adding that there was ample evidence regarding the involvement of the administration in the crime.

Khosa said that there were 15 accused of whom five had been killed in drone attacks, two were absconders, two police officials were awarded punishment, five had been acquitted and Musharraf was declared proclaimed offender.

He alleged that former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar had facilitated Musharraf to leave the country.

“We still believe that the ATC erred by acquitting five accused as their statements of confession that they facilitated the two suicide attackers were available on record. We have challenged the court’s judgment in the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench,” Khosa said.



He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government’s biggest failure was being unable to take any step to bring Musharraf back to the country.

Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) member Abid Saqi said the real culprit was Musharraf, who was still avoiding the trial. He wondered why the government and the court were reluctant to take steps to bring him back to the country through Interpol.

PBC Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon believes that it is a failure of state agencies and the justice system that the nation has yet to find out who was the mastermind in this case.

Another senior PPP lawyer, Raja Shafqat Abbasi, lamented that the investigating agencies deliberately hushed up the case by destroying key evidence. He also asked who had stopped the Punjab police and FIA from conducting a fair probe, adding that there were several evidences which were never even considered.

Abbasi expressed reservation over the ATC judgment, pointing out that five accused people were acquitted and claiming that those who had facilitated the crime were not given appropriate punishment.

However, PBC executive committee member Raheel Kamran Sheikh blames the PPP leadership for not working enough to find the mastermind during its rule. “PPP leadership traded off BB’s assassination against their rule,” he alleged.

Heraldo Munoz of Chile, the head of the UN commission that probed the murder, concluded in his report, “Probably no government will be able or willing to fully disentangle the truth from the complex web of implication in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.”

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