Benazir Bhutto assassination case: Former CPO changes lawyer to delay indictment
FIA to use Mark Siegel’s testimony against Musharraf.
RAWALPINDI:
An anti-terrorism court could not formally indict the seven accused in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case on Saturday after one of them changed his lawyer.
Special Judge Shahid Rafique adjourned the hearing till September 17, after Salman Safdar, the new lawyer for former city police officer Saud Aziz sought time under section 265-D of the criminal procedure code to prepare his client’s defence.
Meanwhile, investigators included American broadcaster Mark Siegel, a close friend of the former prime minister, in the list of prosecution witnesses to use his testimony against former president Pervez Musharraf.
Talking to the media after the adjournment, the public prosecutor said investigators had recorded Siegel’s statement about the threatening phone call by Musharraf to dissuade Benazir from returning to Pakistan before the 2008 general elections.
According to official sources, Deputy Director FIA Azad Khan recorded the statement of the former lobbyist for Benazir in the USA.
The journalist has reportedly confirmed that Musharraf made the threatening call and that Benazir had expressed fear for her life.
The other six accused, who have not yet been charged with murder, are former SP Khurram Shahzad, Hasnain Gul, Rafaqat Hussain, Rasheed Ahmed, Sher Zaman and Aitzaz Shah.
On the last date of hearing, the trial court ordered the FIA to confiscate Musharraf’s movable and immovable property after he was declared a proclaimed offender.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2011.
An anti-terrorism court could not formally indict the seven accused in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case on Saturday after one of them changed his lawyer.
Special Judge Shahid Rafique adjourned the hearing till September 17, after Salman Safdar, the new lawyer for former city police officer Saud Aziz sought time under section 265-D of the criminal procedure code to prepare his client’s defence.
Meanwhile, investigators included American broadcaster Mark Siegel, a close friend of the former prime minister, in the list of prosecution witnesses to use his testimony against former president Pervez Musharraf.
Talking to the media after the adjournment, the public prosecutor said investigators had recorded Siegel’s statement about the threatening phone call by Musharraf to dissuade Benazir from returning to Pakistan before the 2008 general elections.
According to official sources, Deputy Director FIA Azad Khan recorded the statement of the former lobbyist for Benazir in the USA.
The journalist has reportedly confirmed that Musharraf made the threatening call and that Benazir had expressed fear for her life.
The other six accused, who have not yet been charged with murder, are former SP Khurram Shahzad, Hasnain Gul, Rafaqat Hussain, Rasheed Ahmed, Sher Zaman and Aitzaz Shah.
On the last date of hearing, the trial court ordered the FIA to confiscate Musharraf’s movable and immovable property after he was declared a proclaimed offender.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2011.