Benazir Bhutto assassination: Prosecution makes plea to expedite case
Four years after former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi, the prosecution in the case requested the trial court on Saturday for day-to-day hearings to bring the arrested accused to justice.
Special Judge Anti Terrorism Court Shahid Rafiq recorded the statements of four prosecution witnesses regarding telephone conversations between the accused and leaders of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Meanwhile, the special public prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed a fresh application with the trial court, seeking the swift disposal of an earlier application for seeking day-to-day hearings in the case.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the prosecutor said the defence counsel had intentionally been trying to delay the trial and urged the court to speed up the case due to its significance.
The judge also recorded the statement of an FIA official Noman Ashraf Bodla who carried out forensic examinations of cell phone handsets used by the accused former Rawalpindi CCPO Saud Aziz and former SP Rawal Town Khurram Shahzad.
The FIA official informed the court that the two policemen had not cooperated with investigators and failed to provide the numbers they used on December 27, 2007.
The second prosecution witness was a representative of a cellular company, who presented the records of two SIMs used by the accused militants Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul as well as their parents. The third witness was a representative of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited who presented the record of a telephone number that was used by an arrested accused to contact former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud. The fourth witness, Special Judicial Magistrate Chaudhry Taufiq Ahmed, told the court that he had recorded confessional statements of the accused Rafaqat and Hasnain.
The court hearing was adjourned until January 7.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2011.
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ZAB, BB both were killed by their haters and fanatics. The whole world knows Gen Zia was not the only culprit, he was working as a team with LHC and SC. Similarly it was not just the Mush, but the all powerful establishment who tried and tried till they killed her. As long as the powerful establishment is around no questions can be answered. The rightwing killers know that and their supporters know it full well. Yet they keep demanding the PPP govt and blaming it for the lack of movement in courts. The PCO SC has all the time for Memo filed by NS and facilitated by the generals. However, SC has no time for ZAB's simple answers, BB's murder, Salim Shahzad's murder (still remember him?). Even if the murderer has confessed like Qadri, the courts are not moving at all.
It took the United Nations to perform an investigation into BB assassination -- pretty clear to the rest of the World that Pakistan power brokers have no intention of pursuing this matter and foot dragging is to be expected.