RAWALPINDI - An anti-terrorism court Thursday branded former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial and sentenced two police officers to 17 years imprisonment each for ‘mishandling the crime scene’.

In the decade old high-profile case, the prosecution failed to establish the identity of the real killers, and the court acquitted five men accused of involvement in the assassination for lack of substantial evidence and faulty investigation.

The decision announced by Rawalpindi ATC special judge Muhammad Asghar Khan at the heavily guarded Adiyala Jail brought disappointment to the family of the late Pakistan Peoples Party leader.

Federal Investigation Agency has however vowed to challenge the acquittal of Aitzaz Shah, Muhammad Rafqat, Husnain Gull, Sher Zaman and Abdul Rahid Turabi – who all had alleged links with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

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.

Apart from Musharraf, five other men — Baitullah Mehsud, Ahmad Gul, Iqramullah, Abdullah, and Faizullah — have been declared absconders. But the judgement failed to identify the real killers of Benazir.

Musharraf's government blamed the assassination on TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was later killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

Mush the absconder

US lobbyist and author Mark Seigal’s statement also became part of the case. Seigal in his statement had said that Benazir sent him an email sharing that Musharraf wanted to kill her and if something happened to her he should be held responsible.

In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf's government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented.

But the former president and military ruler had denied the allegation of being part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections.

He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013, in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution.

The court ruled on Thursday that Musharraf, who has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later, had "absconded" and ordered the confiscation of his moveable and immovable property.

The former strongman is facing a string of cases connected to his 1999-2008 rule, and country’s courts have ordered confiscation of his property on previous occasions too.

He was acquitted last year in the 2006 killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bhugti, but four cases remain against him: one accusing him of treason for imposing emergency rule, one alleging the unlawful dismissal of judges, one over a deadly raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007, and Benazir Bhutto's killing.

Police officers’ sentence

Former Rawal Division SP Khurram Shahzad Haider (currently posted as SSP Special Branch of Rawalpindi) was accused of hosing down the crime scene less than two hours after the killing – an act the United Nations described in a report as "fundamentally inconsistent with Pakistani police practice".

Then-Rawalpindi police chief (CCPO) Syed Saud Aziz was accused of both giving Shahzad permission to hose down the scene, and of refusing multiple times to allow an autopsy of Bhutto's body to go ahead.

They were each sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on one count and seven on another, and fined 500,000 rupees. Since both the jail terms are to run concurrently, the two officers will actually serve around 10 years in prison.

Saud and Khurram were awarded 10 years imprisonment each under Section 119 of Pakistan Penal Court (Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his/her duty to prevent/negligence during duty).

Both the police officers were sentenced 7 years jail under Section 201 of PPC (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender/washing down crime scene) along with fine of Rs 0.5 million each. In case of non-payment of fine, they will serve an extra 6 month term in jail.

Both the police officers were arrested from courtroom soon after the announcement of the verdict.

Poor prosecution

The court ruled that the prosecution remained totally unable to establish the case against the accused. It also observed that there were glaring contradictions in the documentary evidence as well as in the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. The court also ruled that police and other agencies have conducted faulty investigation in the case.

Earlier, when the judge left ATC No 1 for Adiala Jail amid tight security, some four to five junior lawyers belonging to the PPP were seen standing outside the ATC. No prominent leader or lawyer of the party was present either outside the ATC or at Adiala Jail.

‘Conspiratorial’ verdict

Political commentators declared the verdict of high profile BB murder case as unexpected and unbelievable. The unanswered questions surrounding the case prompted a swirl of conspiracy theories.

Rashid A Rizvi, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, alluded to them Thursday when he noted that the acquittals were "as much a conspiracy as her murder was".

The judgement, political analyst Hasan Askari said, was unlikely to offer any clarity as it "has failed to answer the question of who actually murdered her".

"Were they Taliban or Musharraf," he said, adding the prosecution "could not provide any evidence ... So the mystery remains unsolved".

Defence lawyers

However, the defence lawyers termed the verdict of ATC as historic and based on merit.

"My clients were held for nine years and eight months for nothing," Malik Jawad Khalid, said the lawyer for three of the men – Rafaqat, Husnain and Sher.

"This time in their lives cannot be brought back, but we thank Allah that they have been declared innocent." He however said it was not yet clear when they would be released.

If the acquittals are challenged, he vowed, "my clients will again prove themselves innocent in the higher courts".

“This decision has proved that the judiciary of Pakistan is free and fair,” he commented.

Naseer Tanoli advocate, counsel for Aitzaz Shah, said the prosecution failed in producing substantial evidence against his client or others. “The ATC judge did a bravo by lying down such a decision,” he said.

Public Prosecutor

FIA Special Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Imtiaz, while talking to the media outside ATC, hailed the decision of convicting the two police officers. But he said he would consult the acquittal of the five accused with FIA high ups and file a petition with Lahore High Court against their release.