Lawvers accuse Bhutto of murder
I NZPA-Reuter Lahore . Lawyers of Pakistan’s (High Court Bar Association in Lahore have demanded that the deposed Prime Minister. Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, be arrested for murder, according to press reports yesterday. In a unanimous resolution pubished in Pakistani newspapers, the lawyers said investigations had established that Mr Bhutto, who was overthrown bv the army on July 5, had been responsible for the murder of a number of people. They said that members of Mr Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party had committed a breach of trust, misappropriated public funds and amassed wealth by abusing their positions. “We appreciate the policy of the (military) Government to bring all offenders to book but cannot understand why reports of these investigations and inquiries should not immediately be placed before a court,” the lawyers said.
' Mr Bhutto told reporters on Monday that charges had been brought privately against him in Pakistani courts, and it was possible that he might be detained. The former chief of Pakistan’s para-military Federal Security Force has told the High Court that Mr Bhutto treated senior Government officials as his personal servants and “as mere worms.” Mr Masood Mahmood also said he had not dared to make a written protest when he found that Mr Bhutto had involved him in the illegal detention of his political rivals. He could have been sacked at any moment, and “being one of the worms I could only protest in silence." Mr Mahmood has pleaded guilty to contempt of court for having detained the politicans illegally. The prisoners, who included two former Ministers, had earlier obtained general court bail in anticipation of their arrests.
In earlier statements, Mr Mahmood told the court that he had acted on the personal orders of Mr Bhutto.
Mr Bhutto told reporters in Islamabad on Mondav that it was possible he might be arrested in connection with court cases at present under way, but he did not know whether or when it would happen.
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Press, 31 August 1977, Page 8
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329Lawvers accuse Bhutto of murder Press, 31 August 1977, Page 8
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