ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday suspended the sentence of two senior police officers convicted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in connection with Benazir Bhutto’s murder.

On Aug 31, the Rawalpindi ATC convicted former additional inspector general (AIG) Saud Aziz and ex-senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khurram Shehzad, sentencing both to 17 years, and imposing a Rs1 million each.

The police officers were convicted for criminal negligence and washing the crime scene, but according to Shehzad’s counsel, are likely to be released from Adiala Jail today (Friday).

ATC Judge Asghar Ali Khan had acquitted five alleged members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for want of evidence.

Accused submit surety bonds worth Rs200,000; expected to be released today

But the suspects – Rafaqat Hussain, Hasnain Gul, Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman and Rashid Ahmed – remained imprisoned as the district administration had ordered their detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

The judge also separated the trial of retired General Pervez Musharraf, declaring him a proclaimed offender and initiating the process for the confiscation of his property.

The two former police officers had challenged their sentences through their counsels Azam Nazir Tarrar and Raja Ghanim Aabir, and the appeals were heard by a bench consisting of Justice Tariq Abbasi and Justice Habibullah Amir.

The bench accepted their bail plea against surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.

During the course of his arguments, Advocate Tarrar told the court the ATC judge had acquitted the main accused, but convicted the two law enforcers.

The counsel argued that the ATC judge treated the former dictator quite leniently and, instead of punishing him for defying the court, the judge closed his case until his arrest.

The two former police officers were charged with not providing foolproof security to Benazir Bhutto, and not conducting an autopsy on her body.

But Tarrar argued that the crime scene was washed following the collection of evidence, which was evident from the court record. He said that police had arranged adequate security for Bhutto, since those sitting in her vehicle remained unhurt despite the blast. However, the counsel claimed that had she not emerged from the sunroof, Bhutto would have remained safe.

Talking about the lack of a postmortem, Mr Tarrar said that police do not conduct autopsies in every murder case, and recalled that the dead body of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was not subjected to a postmortem, since the cause of her death was evident.

The counsel argued that the families of the detained police officers were suffering the most, since they could not meet their monthly expenses after the government stopped the two men’s pensions and salaries following their convictions.

If the family of the deceased Ms Bhutto had any doubts, they could have demanded a postmortem and could also have sought the exhumation of the dead body. However, despite the lapse of a decade, the aggrieved family did not move even a single application for exhumation, he maintained.

The officers challenged their sentence on the grounds that there was no evidence of their active participation in the terrorist attack. The prosecution could not prove any mens rea (the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused) against them.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2017