Former military dictator has property confiscated as anti-terror court jails two police officials in relation to 2007 assassination

One of the most controversial trials in Pakistani history has ended with the former military dictator Pervez Musharraf declared a fugitive and his property ordered confiscated after he failed to show in court over the assassination 10 years ago of Benazir Bhutto. The verdict is the first to be issued since Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27, 2007, sparking street violence and plunging the country into months of political turmoil. And he regularly appears on television.”

Musharraf, who is accused of conspiring to murder the former prime minister, has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016, when he left the country after a period in house arrest, after the ministry of interior lifted his travel ban. The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi ruled he had "absconded", a court official told reporters outside, saying it had also ordered the confiscation of his property. The court also acquitted five men who had been accused of being Taleban militants involved in the conspiracy to murder Ms Bhutto, the Muslim world's first female prime minister, the official said. But it found two police officers guilty of "mishandling the crime scene", the official said, adding that they had each been sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined 500,000 rupees (S$6,600). The court on Thursday sentenced former Rawalpindi city police officer Saud Aziz and former Rawal Town superintendent of police Khurram Shahzad to 17 years in prison, and imposed a fine of 5 lakh Pakistani rupees each.
Two police officials found guilty of negligence and mistreatment of evidence are sentenced to 17 years in prison. Five accused TTP militants are acquitted. The main suspect, former president Pervez Musharraf, who now resides in Dubai, is declared a fugitive for having failed to show up in court and has his property confiscated.