Pak police officers challenge their conviction in Bhutto case

The two former senior Pakistani police officers convicted in Benazir Bhutto assassination case and sentenced to 17 years in prison today challenged their conviction in a higher court, saying they have been made "scapegoats".
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi last week convicted additional inspector general Saud Aziz and Senior Superintendent of police Khurram Shehzad for negligence and security lapses and sentenced them to 17 years in prison.
The two have challenged the judgement in the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, a court official said.
Both the officers contented in the appeal that they had provided adequate security to Bhutto who was killed in Rawalpindi, the official added.

Bhutto, the Pakistan Peoples Party chief and a two-time prime minister, was killed along with more than 20 people in a gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007. She was 54.
The officers asked the court to overturn the verdict, saying the decision was full of contradictions as the court set free the five prime suspects who were kept in jail since 2008 when they were arrested.

Their lawyers said the officers who were providing security services have been made "scapegoats", Dawn news reported.
They said the prosecution did not have any solid evidence against the accused.

Earlier, the ATC freed the five suspects allegedly linked with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for lack of evidence.
It, however, declared former dictator Pervez Musharraf a fugitive and ordered authorities to seize his properties.
A joint investigation team had implicated Musharraf in the case, saying his government did not provide adequate security to Bhutto during the rally despite her repeated requests.
It is not known when the high court will take up the appeal for hearing.