Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his wife during a visit to France in 1973 (French)
The Pakistani Supreme Court said that the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not receive a fair trial, 44 years after his execution.
The president of the court, Judge Fayez Issa, said in a televised statement following the issuance of the ruling yesterday, Wednesday, “We did not find that a fair trial and legal procedures were applied,” noting that this ruling was issued unanimously by a panel of 9 judges.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded the Pakistan People's Party - which is currently led by his grandson, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari - and was executed by hanging in 1979 after being convicted of murder in a trial held by the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, who had come to power in a military coup three years earlier.
The ruling came in response to a memorandum submitted by Asif Ali Zardari - father of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and husband of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - when he was president of the country in 2011, requesting the Supreme Court’s opinion on the death sentence issued against the founder of the People’s Party.
“Our family has waited 3 generations to hear these words,” Bhutto Zardari wrote in a post on the X platform.
For his part, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the Supreme Court's decision and said that it was "a positive development for one court to correct the injustice committed by another court," according to a statement issued by his office.
Sharif was sworn in last Monday to become prime minister for the second time, about 4 weeks after the national elections, which were accompanied by doubts about their integrity.
His election came after the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz Sharif's wing and the Pakistan People's Party agreed to form a coalition government, although candidates supported by former Prime Minister Imran Khan - who is currently imprisoned - obtained the largest number of seats.
Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters