Karachi: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday filed petitions against an antiterrorism court (ATC) verdict in the Benazir Bhutto murder case last month, in which it set many nominated suspects free, sentenced two police officers and declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as proclaimed absconder.
Sardar Latif Khosa, the former governor of the Punjab province and a prominent lawyer, formally filed the three petitions at the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The ATC court on August 30 handed down 17-year sentences of rigorous imprisonment to Saud Aziz, and Khurram Shahzad, two senior police officers, for tampering with evidence and poor investigation of the murder case.
It also ordered attachment of all the properties of general Musharraf and declared him a proclaimed absconder in the case.
The court however freed five suspects, who were the members of the banned militant groups and were held responsible for executing the Bhutto murder case. Eitezaz Shah and Rafaqat Hussain, the two prime suspects in the case, who were also exonerated.
The three petitions of the PPP appealed the LHC for the retrial of Shah and Hussain as well as the former army chief, who was the president of Pakistan when Bhutto arrived Pakistan in 2007 after ending her eight years of self exile.
Khosa told the media that the appeals were filed under the antiterrorism act. Touching upon the some key issues, the petition was based on, he said that the security of Bhutto was withdrawn when she was shot down from a point-blank range.
Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, when she was waving to the rally from the sunroof of her armoured vehicle. A suicide attack followed after the shooting.
Khosa said that Musharraf threatened Bhutto and she her wrote in her letters that Musharraf would be responsible if something happened to her.
