Daily Times

Lahore: 10-years after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Thursday concluded its trial in the case, announcing prison terms for two senior policemen and declaring General Pervaiz Musharraf an absconder. All five Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) suspects have been acquitted.

The announcement of the judgement was followed by widespread condemnation on the social media. Twitter users – including politicians, journalists and lawyers – expressed disappointment over the justice system’s failure to nab ‘powerful’ culprits. Some also noticed Bhutto family’s absence from the court room as the verdict was announced in BB’s murder case.

Meanwhile, #BenazirBhutto remained the top Twitter trend all day on Thursday.

PPP leader Nafisa Shah tweeted that the judgement had failed to deliver justice since the conspirators and the main accused, especially Musharraf, were not sentenced.

Journalists Rana Jawad and Talat Hussain also criticised the verdit. Jawad tweeted, “Sorry #Shaheed #BenazirBhutto. Very sorry. This country is not yet designed to do justice.”

Hussain? said, “Benazir’s murder probe started with Al Qaeda plan and ten years later has ended up blaming two police officers. What a farce.”

Twitter user Natasha? said, “The state killed her again today. #BenazirBhutto.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Reema Omer pointed out some legal aspects of the case in a series of tweets. “Policemen in BB case convicted under S.119 (concealing design to commit offence) and S.201 of the PPC (disappearance of evidence). Interestingly, the police officers were charged but acquitted under S. 120-B (criminal conspiracy to murder). Better to critique judgements on evidence, reasoning + any allegations of external influence than mere fact of acquittal/conviction… Convictions don’t always mean ‘justice’; acquittals aren’t necessarily ‘injustice’; and ‘confessions’ must always be treated with caution.”

“Five men cleared of conspiring to murder #BenazirBhutto due to lack of evidence says everything about Pakistan’s criminal justice system”, tweeted Anchor Shumaila Jaffery.?

Columnist Zahid Hussain? termed the ruling ‘strange’ and said, “Officials who were on duty have been convicted. But the accused are set free.”

Columnist Mohammad Taqi wrote,? “You will never hear Asif Zardari threaten ‘eent-se-eent-bajao’ to get justice for #BenazirBhutto; he only does it to save his cronies.” Waqar Gillani? said, “A friend outside court said no #PPP worker/leader was present to hear #BenazirBhutto murder verdict”

Meanwhile, others expressed disappointment at the questions left unanswered as the trial in Bhutto’s murder concluded at the ATC. Journalist Shama Junejo tweeted, “Who planned murder, who killed Benazir, who ordered Saud Aziz to wash the crime scene? We will never find the answers #SMBBHumSharmindaHain.”

Journalist Yousuf Nazar said,? “Many characters killed, principal accused Musharraf free, accessories convicted, bosses free, prosecutor murdered. #BenazirBhuttomurdercase”

Published in Daily Times, September 1^st 2017.