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Thursday, August 31, 2017

Parvez Musharraf Declared Fugitive in ex-PM Benazir Bhutto's Murder Trial Thursday August 31,2017

A Pakistan anti-terrorism court has declared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial, ordering his property confiscated, a court official said Thursday August 31,2017

Musharraf was charged with Bhutto's 2007 assassination in 2013, but has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later. The official said he had "absconded".

The court also acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taliban militants involved in the conspiracy to murder Bhutto, the Muslim world's first female prime minister, the official said.

However it found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the court official said, adding they had each been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment and fined 500,000 rupees ($4,700).

The verdicts are the first to be issued in the case, and come nearly 10 years after Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack during an election rally in Rawalpindi.

Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.


Benazir Bhutto murder case: A timeline of events following her assassination

August 31, 2017: Pakistan’s anti-terrorism court sentenced two senior police officers to 17 years in jail and declared former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf an absconder. The court also ordered the seizure of Musharraf’s property. Five others were acquitted in the case.
August 21, 2017: The anti-terrorism court decided to conduct daily proceedings. Judge Mohammad Asghar Khan announced daily hearing after the last witness in the case recorded his testimony on August 20.
2013: FIA’s special prosecutor in the case was killed by unknown assailants. Doctors said he had been killed with 10 bullets targeting his chest and shoulder.
2011: Both Saud Aziz and SSP Kurrum Shahezad were initially arrested but were later released
2009: Pervez Musharraf, Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz and SSP Kurrum Shahezad, among the accused, implicated this year, after fresh probe by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The two were accused of negligence in security arrangements.
January 2008: In 2008, the police registered an FIR regarding the incident on behalf of the state and trial of five TTP suspects started in February of 2008. However, the case was handed over to the FIA after PPP won 2008 general election.
December 27, 2007:  Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally.

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