Benazir murder case: ATC starts recording witnesses’ statements

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 3: An Anti Terrorist Court (ATC) has formally started recording the statements of the prosecution witnesses in Benazir Bhutto murder case after almost four years of her assassination.

ATC Judge Shahid Rafique on Saturday recorded the statements of two policemen. Kashif Bashir, a prosecution witness briefed the court about the circumstances in which he reached the crime scene, collected some evidence and reported the incident to the city police station on December 27, 2007.

Arshad Kaleem, another prosecution witness while recording his statement in the court said that he deposited the remains of an unidentified person in the mortuary.

The court summoned 8 more prosecution witnesses on December 10 and adjourned the hearing. The prosecution had short listed over 40 witnesses out of total 120 in the case.

The same court also resumed hearing on a petition filed by Sehba Musharraf against the seizure of the property of her husband, former president Pervez Musharraf and freezing of his bank accounts in Benazir Bhutto assassination case. Her counsel Nayyab Hassan Gardezi requested the court to adjourn the case.

FIA senior public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali contended before the court that Sehba Musharraf's petition was not maintainable while her counsel instead of arguing the case continued to seek adjournments.

It is an established principal that the court could not entertain the petitions filed by someone on behalf of a fugitive of law.

He said the court had declared Musharraf as a proclaimed offender and being fugitive of law, Musharraf must surrender himself before the court or get a pre-arrest bail from a competent court of law, and then he could only be entitled to challenge the court orders.

The court adjourned the matter till December 10.

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