44 years ago, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to hanging for murder (file photo)
Islamabad:
Pakistan’s parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution calling for the overturning of the death sentence of former prime minister and People’s Party 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 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to death for allegedly ordering the assassination of Ahmed Reza Kasu, one of the founding members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) inside.
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 filed 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 commends the Supreme Court for finally upholding and accepting the “clear injustice” suffered by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in its verdict 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 at the Lahore High Court and the appeal proceedings before the Supreme Court of Pakistan are inconsistent with the requirements of a fair trial and the fundamental rights due to them. Article 2 of the Constitution The procedure provided for in Articles 4 and 9 was later guaranteed as a separate fundamental right under Article 10A of the Constitution.” The Supreme Court expressed its opinion but also ruled that the death sentence against Bhutto was not permitted by the Constitution and law. It cannot be changed and the original judgment is upheld.
The resolution also requested the federal government to formally declare Bhutto as the “Shaheed” and “Hero of National Democracy” and to establish the “Nishan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto” in honor of the workers and activists who fought and died for true democracy. Award in Pakistan.
Except for Bir Pakhtunkhwa and the Senate, all three provincial assemblies passed resolutions declaring Bhutto a national hero and martyr.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
