Pakistan’s parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution calling for the overturning of the death sentence of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was executed in 1979 by the military junta of General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.

The resolution came days after the Supreme Court unanimously held on March 6 that the former prime minister had not received a fair trial and due process in a review of the high-profile case.

On March 18, 1978, the Lahore High Court sentenced Bhutto to death for allegedly ordering the assassination of Ahmed Reza Kasuri, one of the founding members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The resolution, passed by the National Assembly (NA) and tabled by the PPP’s Shazia Marri, acknowledged that Bhutto’s trial and subsequent conviction were a “gross miscarriage of justice,” Geo News reported.

It “pays tribute to the struggle of Mrs. Nusrat Bhutto Sahiba, Shaheed Motama Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan People’s Party workers who sacrificed their lives to establish this truth”.

The Supreme Court’s opinion was based on a special case submitted to the Supreme Court by then-President Asif Ali Zardari in 2011 to review the conviction of his father-in-law Bhutto for abetting the murder and his eventual death in 1979. He was hanged on April 4, 2011. On March 10, Zardari was elected president for the second time.

The resolution commended the Supreme Court for finally upholding and accepting the “manifestly unfair” verdict against Bhutto 44 years ago. The report stated that the trial proceedings in the Lahore High Court and the appeal proceedings in the Supreme Court were inconsistent with the requirements of the fundamental rights to fair trial and due process.

The resolution demanded that the unfair verdict in the Bhutto case must be overturned based on the Supreme Court’s judgment.

Delivering the unanimous opinion last week, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Issa said, “The trial proceedings of the Lahore High Court and the appeal proceedings of the Supreme Court of Pakistan are inconsistent with the requirements of the fundamental rights of fair trial and due process” Article 4 of the Constitution and 9, later guaranteed as a separate fundamental right under Article 10A of the Constitution. “

The Supreme Court issued an opinion, but also ruled that Bhutto’s death sentence cannot be changed because the constitution and law do not allow it, and upheld the original verdict.

The resolution also requested the federal government to formally declare Bhutto as the “Shaheed” and “Hero of National Democracy” and establish the “Nishan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto” Award to reward workers and workers who have fought and sacrificed for true democracy. Activists in Pakistan.

All three provincial assemblies and senates except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – where former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is in power Both passed resolutions declaring Bhutto a national hero and martyr.