Friday, May 06, 2011
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (click title to entry - thank you) was informed on Thursday that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been killed in custody before his execution and that no medical officer had been present in the prison at that time.
Counsel for the federation, Babar Awan, told the 11-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, that resumed the hearing of the presidential reference sent to it by President Zardari under Article 186 of the constitution by invoking its advisory jurisdiction on the trial of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), that the execution certificate even did not mention the name and stamp of medical officer and the execution time. Babar contended that no medical officer had certified the execution of the former prime minister.
Silence prevailed and tears rolled down from the cheeks of Pakistan People’s Party senior leaders present in the courtroom as Babar gave his arguments.
During the course of the proceedings, Babar said the drama of killing Bhutto was played in Lahore where the then Lahore High Court chief justice issued death warrant for the former prime minister. “It was a judicial murder and the drama of killing Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was played in Lahore”, he added.
He contended that after the case had been transferred to the Lahore High Court, the then chief justice Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain had been the first judge who had served a death sentence on Bhutto. “Maulvi Mushtaq wanted to make sure that Bhutto was judicially murdered,” he said.
During the hearing, Babar provided the court the proof of Bhutto’s death sentence issued by the then LHC chief justice on March 25, 1979, directing the superintendent of the district jail in Rawalpindi to hang Bhutto by the neck until he be dead on April 4, 1979.
Babar submitted that during the trial, ZAB had requested the court to record his statement in audio tape, however, the court rejected his request and deprived him of this right.
Meanwhile, Punjab Advocate General Khawaja Harris informed the bench that whole Wednesday night he and the Punjab IGP had gone through the police record but did not find any file containing FIR and investigation officer (IO) notes against ZAB.
The court, while rejecting the statement of Khawaja Haris, directed the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) and Punjab AG to convene a meeting with the FIA DG, Railways IG and Punjab IG for the search of record.
Justice Chaudhry, in his remarks, said, “We are interested in the record that how Bhutto was got involved in the case. Therefore, provide the record, no matter from wherever you bring it.”
The CJP observed that ZAB was a person of international repute and certain things must be avoided which might go against his personality. He said that they knew it was not a case of an ordinary man but of Bhutto, who was well-known. “We are aware of the reference which has been sent from the president and we have to show respect to it by answering the questions,” he added.
Justice Javed said not only Mehmood remained silent but the parliamentarians and other also remained quite.
He asked Babar that as the case had come up before the Supreme Court after a long time, then who could be blamed for the missing record.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case until Monday.
The secrets surrounding the covert nature of Osama bin Laden's safe haven in Pakistan should alert an international investigation into the activities of Pakistan's ISI and government as the corruption certainly has effected the way Afghanistan conducts its business. As a matter of fact, President Karzai has stated he told the former President Musharraf of the presence of bin Laden in Pakistan years before President Obama and the Joint Chiefs finally ended it.
Pakistani security forces arrested dozens of people yesterday, (click here) following Sunday's U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbtotabad.
According to a report from the Open Source Center, several Pakistani agencies conducted a joint operation in Abbottabad, arresting 40 people on suspicion of links to bin Laden.
Participating were the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, Military Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Abbottabad Police.
Official Pakistani sources were quoted as having referred to the arrests as the "second phase" of the operation that killed the al Qaeda leader.
Afghan intelligence knew Osama was in Abbottabad area four years ago: report
May 5, 2011 5:35 PM EDTAfghan intelligence sources suspected that Osama bin Laden was living in the region around Abbottabad, Pakistan as long ago as four years ago – but nothing was done about it because the president of Pakistan at the time, Pervez Musharraf, angrily rejected any such possibility....
