Aitzaz says Zardari appointed him counsel but PPP told him not to appear in SC

ISLAMABAD: Veteran Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan revealed on Wednesday that former president Asif Ali Zardari had appointed him as counsel in the presidential reference for revisiting the death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after a controversial trial in 1979, and he was quite ready for assisting in this case but nobody contacted him in this regard.

Talking to media outside the Supreme Court, Ahsan said he emotionally and logically believes that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was quite innocent and he can prove it too.

He said he had contacted PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sherry Rehman, and told them that there was a need for a lot of hard work in this case. However, Ahsan said he was conveyed the final message on behalf of the PPP that he should not go to court.

The senior lawyer said that he got Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari acquitted in high-profile cases.

He said that during the hearing of the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto acquittal case, the chief Justice asked where Aitzaz Ahsan was. At this, he said his associate said Farooq H Naik had forbidden him not to come to court. He said that in fact he did not appear in the court due to the PPP’s instruction that he should not appear.