Benazir murder: Defence files for contempt to stop making case findings public

Defence says prosecution committed contempt by advertising the court had permitted them to disclose case details.

RAWALPINDI: Advocate Rao Abdul Raheem representing Sher Zaman, one of the five men accused in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, filed a petition with the Rawalpindi trial court on Saturday to initiate contempt of court proceedings against state prosecution to stop them from making public details of the case.

Raheem submitted before the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi on Saturday that the court had directed state prosecutors belonging to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to 'proceed in accordance with the law' on an application which sought permission to make details of investigations in the Benazir case public.

Interior minister Rehman Malik had earlier in December said that more facts about the case will be revealed on December 27, 2012, the fifth anniversary of the former Prime Minister's assassination.

In his application, Advocate Raheem claimed that the prosecution has advertised that the trial court had permit the federal government to go ahead with its plan of going public with findings of the case. This, the defence argued, was false, and tantamount to contempt of court.

Daily hearings of Benazir Bhutto case

Earlier, FIA's special public prosecutor in the Benazir Bhutto's assassination case on Saturday once again pleaded to conduct day to day hearings for the five year old case.

Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali urged the Special Judge Anti-Terrorism Court-I Habibur Rehman to follow the directions of a judge of Lahore High Court on hearing terrorism cases.

The FIA's lawyer said Justice Manzoor Malik of the LHC and an administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts in Punjab, had recently directed trial judges to carry out day to day hearings in terrorism cases.

The prosecutor argued that the assassination case of Benazir Bhutto had been the longest pending case before ATC-I of Rawalpindi and it needed day-to-day hearings.

Responding to Chaudhry Zulfiqar’s pleas, the trial judge remarked that lawyers associated with the case should ensure their presence every day to make daily hearings possible.

Musharraf's frozen properties

The trial court on Saturday could not take up hearings on an application filed by Sebah Musharraf for unfreezing property of former President Pervez Musharraf since their lawyer failed to appear before the court.

Advocate Ilyas Siddiqi representing Musharraf's wife was due to provide proof of his client's ownership of an agriculture farm in Islamabad and money deposited in various accounts owned by Pervez Musharraf.

Juvenile UTP

In another development advocate Naseer Ahmed Tanoli representing the accused Aitzaz Shah filed an application with the court saying being a juvenile the trial of Aitzaz should be sped up.

Talking to The Express Tribune advocate Tanoli said in the application he had urged on the court to direct the prosecution to put forward its witnesses against his client and the court should dispose of the trial at the earliest since his client, a juvenile, has been languishing in jails as an under-trial prisoner for the last five years.