ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism court (ATC) will announce its judgement in the Benazir Bhutto killing case on Thursday (today) at Adiala jail.

ATC Judge Asghar Ali Khan reserved the verdict on Wednesday after conducting day-to-day proceedings in the case that had been pending adjudication for about a decade.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry in his concluding arguments disowned the prosecution evidence of audio record and transcript of telephonic conversation of the former chief of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a cleric in which he had congratulated the terrorists on carrying out the successful attack on the former prime minister.

Mr Chaudhry termed it a “fake story” fabricated by then military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf to mislead the investigators. He claimed that Gen Musharraf, through his aide former director general of the National Crisis Management Cell retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, had disseminated this fake evidence to save his skin.

According to him, Gen Musharraf was an accused and he hatched a conspiracy to kill Benazir Bhutto because he perceived her a potential threat to his rule.

Mr Chaudhry also accused then deputy inspector general Saud Aziz of abetting the crime. He alleged that Aziz had transferred then superintendent of police Ashfaq Anwar from Liaquat Bagh to Sadiqabad, leaving the former Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson at the mercy of terrorists.

The prosecutor further accused the senior police officer of not conducting autopsy of slain Benazir to detract the investigation.

Rebutting the allegations, Ghanim Aabir, the counsel for Saud Aziz, said that after the firing incident on a convoy of Nawaz Sharif on Islamabad Expressway, his client had sent Ashfaq Anwar there.

About the post-mortem, the counsel said Wajid Zia, who was also a senior member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the Benazir murder case, had testified before the ATC that Rawalpindi police had made all arrangements to conduct autopsy of Benazir, but it was linked to the consent of her husband Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Aabir argued said that since the autopsy of a body was done to determine the cause of death, the doctors of Rawalpindi General Hospital had mentioned the cause of her death in their reports and, therefore, there was no need of post-mortem on Ms Bhutto’s body. According to him, last rites of slain Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi were performed without a post-mortem because the cause of her death was obvious.

Even otherwise, the counsel claimed, the post-mortem procedure was the job of the investigating officer and since Saud Aziz was not the investigating officer, he could not be held responsible for that.

The counsel for five TTP suspects — Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Abdul Rashid — also concluded his arguments. They denied the charges levelled against them by the prosecution.

The trial of the five suspects started in January 2008. Since then, eight different judges heard the case. The PPP government had in 2009 ordered a fresh investigation into the Benazir murder case and the FIA’s JIT implicated Gen Musharraf, Saud Aziz and SSP Khurram Shehzad as accused. The prosecution has submitted eight challans to the ATC that separated the trial of Gen Musharraf after he left the country.

The ATC will announce the verdict with regard to the five TTP suspects and two police officers. The court will resume trial against Gen Musharraf after his return to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2017