ATC accepts Naheed Khan’s plea to become party in BB murder case

Slain premier's aide requests court for access to legal documents related to the case

An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on Monday approved Naheed Khan’s plea to be included as a prosecution witness in the  former premier Benazir Bhutto’s murder case, Express News reported.

According to reports, the former premier's aide appeared in ATC to record her statement after Bhutto’s driver claimed last week that Naheed Khan had suggested her to address party workers from the sunroof of her vehicle on the day of her assassination in Liaquat Bagh.

Read: Benazir Bhutto murder case: Warrants for driver, Mohmand PA issued

The court asked the slain PPP leader's aide to file a separate application if she wants to become a party to the case, sources said. Further, Naheed filed an application to become a member in Benazir’s assassination case in the ATC requesting the court to provide her access to the information of judicial proceedings and other legal documents related to the case.

Later, the court issued notices to the federal government and the prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and ordered them to appear in court on September 14.

While talking to media outside the court, Naheed said it was her legal right to defend the allegations which were levelled against her by the lawyer of former president and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

“I had been called for investigation by the UN, Scotland Yard, and FIA officials in the past; however, I was never called by the court to give my statement,” she said.

On September 2, Bhutto’s driver Javaidur Rehman, who is now employed with Zardari, had also blamed the lack of security outside the rally venue’s gate as the cause of Benazir’s death almost eight years ago. In his recorded statement before the ATC, Rehman told the court he has been employed with former president Asif Zardari for a long time and after Bhutto’s return to the country in 2007, he was the one driving all her vehicles.

Read: 'More security could have saved BB'

During the defence team’s cross-examination, Rehman revealed that he had given the same statement to the police earlier but what they had written in their report did not reflect what he had said.