Bol News explores the event from different angles to understand why there’s no progress in Benazir Bhutto murder case

LAHORE: It has been 15 years since former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated. But the case still remains unsolved.

She was assassinated on 27 December 2007 while leaving Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh stadium after addressing a party rally. Five of the accused arrested for planning her assassination have since been acquitted by a trial court, while an appeal filed against the court’s ruling is still pending.

Meanwhile, two senior police officers – CPO Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shehzad – who were arrested on the charge of destroying evidence by washing the crime scene, are currently on bail. Their sentence, which was announced on 31 August 2017, was suspended soon afterwards following their appeals.

Below we explore different angles to find out why the case, which involves the murder of once the most popular democratic leaders of the country, has been going on without an end.

Procedural delays

Senior lawyer and PPP leader, Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, who is representing Ms Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, in the appeals against the accused, said the crime scene was “washed on the orders of then military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, eliminating all evidence, and that is why the murder mystery remains unsolved.”

When asked why their appeals have been pending for five long years, he said the case has been fixed for hearing at the Lahore High Court (LHC) a number of times since 2017, but every time it is adjourned for a long period without any proceedings. “Sometimes the judge has been transferred, and sometimes the accused fail to appear. Notices have been issued to the acquitted accused, but they have not yet appeared before the court, while one accused is absconding,” he said.

Since the lawyer for the two accused is now a law minister in the government, another lawyer will have to replace him in the case, which will apparently cause further delays, he said, adding that the last hearing in the case was held two months ago, and the court has not yet issued the date for the next hearing.

He said he requested the LHC to expedite hearings and deliver justice. “We ourselves now feel ashamed when Banazir Bhutto’s followers raise such slogans as, ‘BB hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain (BB we are ashamed, your killers are still alive).”

PPP not interested

Former SSP, Rao Muhammad Anwaar, is considered to be a close confidant of Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Zardari. He was also a member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

According to him, the PPP was not interested in solving the mystery of the murder. He argued that barely two months after BB’s death, the PPP won elections and moved into power where it remained for five years, until 2013. Asif Zardari remained the president of the country during that period. Yet, no progress was made in the case.

“Despite being in-charge of Benazir Bhutto’s security, and then becoming the federal interior minister, Rehman Malik did not conduct the forensics of Benazir Bhutto’s mobile phone for a long time. No one in the party pressed for it,” he said.

According to Rao, he even contacted Asif Zardari to help get BB’s Blackberry phone for analysis, but it could not be found.

Rao never put his signatures on the JIT report that was subsequently issued.

Establishment suppressed truth

A founding member of the PPP, Taj Haider, strongly differed with Rao Anwaar’s views. He said that it was the military establishment that did not want the truth to come out, and was involved either directly or indirectly to frustrate efforts at carrying out a fair investigation of the case.

This, he said, was a sign of the unfortunate fact that Pakistan is always ruled by two governments; one elected by the voters and the other run by the establishment from behind the curtains.

UN Commission report

On 5 February 2009, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, announced that subsequent to a request by the Government of Pakistan, the UN was constituting a commission to investigate Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

The UN team’s mandate was to “establish the facts and circumstances of the assassination”, and not to undertake a criminal investigation, which remained the responsibility of the Pakistani authorities.

The report concluded that the security measures provided to Bhutto by the government were “fatally insufficient and ineffective”. Furthermore, the report stated that the treatment of the crime scene after her death “goes beyond mere incompetence”.

The report maintained that “police actions and omissions, including the hosing down of the crime scene and failure to collect and preserve evidence, inflicted irreparable damage to the investigation.”

No action was taken against the persons held responsible in UNO’s report.

Case proceedings

The legal proceedings in the murder case lasted for nine years and eight months. During this time, eight judges were transferred. Police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted six challans in the court. Seven accused, including former President General (Rtd) Pervez Musharraf, were indicted on 20 August 2013.

American journalist, Mark Segal, also testified in the case through a video link, and blamed Gen Musharraf for the murder. In the meantime, Gen Musharraf absconded from the country and did not respond to the court’s offer to record his statement through a video link to clarify his position. Afterwards, the court declared him a proclaimed offender.

During the trial, the statements of 68 out of 141 witnesses were recorded. Judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court, Muhammad Asghar Khan, delivered the verdict on 31 August 2017, acquitting the five accused namely Rafaqat Hussain, Hasnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed and Aitezaz Shah, while police officers, namely CPO Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shehzad, were convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500,000 each. The court held that the killing of Benazir Bhutto could have been prevented if the security arrangements had been better.

The convicted police officers filed an appeal in the LHC, while Asif Zardari has also appealed against the acquittal of the other five accused.

The Liaquat Bagh episode

After having addressed her party’s public rally on 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto was leaving in her car and workers of the People’s Youth Organization were raising slogans in her favor at the main gate.

In order to express solidarity with them, she stood up through the roof of her car to wave at them. That was when an unknown person opened fire on her. A few moments after the shooting, there was a loud explosion as a suicide bomber blew himself up some distance from Benazir’s car.

As a result of the explosion, the car in which Benazir Bhutto was riding was badly damaged, but the driver drove away bravely and took her to Rawalpindi General Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

Benazir Bhutto became the first and only woman Prime Minister of Pakistan after winning elections in 1988. She was re-elected to the office in 1993. After the defeat of her party in the 1997 elections, she went abroad. She returned to the country after ten years, in October 2007. She became the target of terrorism two months later.

PPP’s Reconciliation politics

Neutral observers point out that the party’s current leadership has drifted away from public politics. This, they believe, is due to the party adopting what they call the politics of reconciliation. This is quite contrary to what Benazir represented.

Her political vision, and the sacrifices she rendered for the revival of democracy during the 1980s, are still widely recognized worldwide. During her political career, she was often heard saying, “democracy is the best revenge.”