Khaleej Times

FIA challenges ATC’s verdict in Benazir murder case

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islamabad — Pakistan’s premier investigat­ion agency on Friday challenged the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, arguing that the two convicted policemen as well as the five men acquitted of all charges deserve capital punishment.

On August 31, an anti-terrorism court sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail in the Bhutto murder case, nearly 10 years after her assassinat­ion.

The court also declared former dictator Pervez Musharraf a fugitive and ordered seizure of his property. The court also acquitted five Tehreek-i-Taleban Pakistan suspects.

The Federal Investigat­ion Agency (FIA) moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the anti-terrorism court’s (ATC) decision.

The decision to declare five suspects innocent had invited criticism from various quarters, including the family of Bhutto.

Bhutto, the Pakistan People’s Party chief and a two-time prime minister, was killed along with more than 20 people in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54.

According to court officials, the FIA filed two petitions with the Rawalpindi bench of LHC. The first one argues that former city police officer Saud Aziz and former superinten­dent of police Khurrum Shahzad were not punished under the terrorism charges and the FIA demanded capital punishment for them. — PTI

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