Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared that former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not receive a fair trial before his execution in 1979.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa announced the unanimous opinion of a nine-member larger bench during the hearing of a presidential reference related to Bhutto's death sentence.
The opinion stated that the trial and appeal proceedings did not meet the requirements of the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process. The court ruled that while Bhutto's death sentence verdict could not be changed, it would be maintained as per the Constitution and law. A detailed opinion will be issued later, reported PTI.
The decision is based on a special case sent in 2011 by then-President Asif Ali Zardari to the Supreme Court, seeking a reexamination of Bhutto's conviction for abetment in a murder case and his subsequent execution in 1979.
Despite declaring the trial unfair, the court affirmed that the death sentence verdict would not be altered.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was executed at the age of 51 after a seven-member Supreme Court upheld his conviction.
Many believe that his conviction was coerced by then-military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq, who had overthrown Bhutto's government in 1977. Bhutto's supporters, terming his hanging a "judicial murder," accused the military ruler and the apex court of collaborating to unjustly execute an elected prime minister on fabricated charges.
The court's decision on the unfair trial acknowledges the historical controversy surrounding Bhutto's execution.
In 2011, Zardari submitted a presidential reference to seek the Supreme Court's opinion on revisiting Bhutto's trial. The court's recent declaration comes after Chief Justice Isa took up the case for hearing last year.