As Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa read the short ruling in the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case on Wednesday, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was seen holding back tears as he stood in front of the bench.
In issuing its reserved opinion on the conviction, sentence, and death of the late prime minister and PPP founder, the Supreme Court stated that Bhutto was denied a “fair trial”.
“Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not receive a fair trial, and it did not comply with the constitutional requirement of due process,” remarked CJP Isa in announcing the short order.
Bilawal, his party’s legal team, and veteran members stood before the judges and listened to the order’s contents.
As the chief judge began reading, Bilawal became emotional and later used his handkerchief to wipe tears from his face.
The verdict was an emotional moment for the young politician, who hails from one of the world’s most politically persecuted families, with many members executed or assassinated in various cases.
Bilawal’s mother, Benazir Bhutto, the world’s first Muslim head of state, was assassinated in December 2007, just a few months after returning to Pakistan from years of self-imposed exile.
His uncle Murtaza Bhutto was also gunned down in Karachi on September 20, 1996, and his younger uncle Shahnawaz Bhutto was discovered deceased under unexplained circumstances.Meanwhile, the court’s judgment in the ZAB reference comes nearly 12 years after former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari filed a presidential reference to reconsider the sentence and execution of the PPP founder and former premier.
