Ex-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Hanged Without a Fair Trial, Says Pakistan Supreme Court

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged 44 years ago after being convicted of murder, didn’t get a fair trial, ruled Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“We didn’t find that the fair trial and due process requirements were met,” said Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in remarks telecast live. The Chief Justice said this ruling was a unanimous decision by a nine-member bench headed by him.

The ruling was in response to a judicial reference filed by Bhutto Zardari’s father, Asif Ali Zardari, during his tenure as president in 2011 seeking an opinion by the apex court on the death sentence awarded to the PPP founder.

Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which is now headed by his grandson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Bhutto was hanged in 1979 after a trial during the reign of the military regime of the late General Zia-ul-Haq.

“Our family waited 3 generations to hear these words,” Bilwal Bhutto Zardari said later in a post on X.