An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan Saturday formally framed charges against five accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, lawyers for the accused said.
Bhutto was killed in firing and a suicide bomb attack in the eastern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007, shortly after she addressed an election rally.
The government accused Baitullah Mehsood, chief of the Pakistan Taliban movement, of masterminding Bhutto's assassination, the charges Mehsood has denied.
According to local press reports, Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman, judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court heard the case inside the Adialaprison due to security reasons and formally framed charges against the five accused.
"All the accused refused to accept the charges and described the charges as concocted," defense lawyer Naseer Ahmed Tanoli said.
Tanoli said that the accused said they had not committed any crime and that they did not have any information about Bhutto's murder.
"They said they are innocent. They said they were at work place, homes and educational institutions," the defense lawyer said. He said that the accused told the court that they did not have any contacts or relations with Mehsood.
The court will start statements of evidence, Tanoli said, adding that the prosecution has a list of around 84 witnesses.
The court set the next hearing on Nov. 29, the lawyer said.
Pakistan has sought technical help from the British police to probe Bhutto's murder after her party expressed reservations over the inquiry.
Pakistan has also approached to the United Nations in investigation of the assassination.
Source: Xinhua
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