Ex-PM Bhutto executed without fair trial, Zia benefited: SC

Islamabad:  The Supreme Court in a detailed opinion on execution of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto said that an innocent person was executed without a fair trial.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, in a 48-page opinion, said that former military dictator Zia-ul-Haq directly benefited from the decision to execute Zulfiqar Bhutto.

The opinion highlighted that, at the time of Bhutto's trial, the country was under martial law, and the courts lacked constitutional legitimacy.

The CJP also said that courts led by judges who had sworn allegiance to a dictator could no longer be considered courts of the people.