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Pakistan court sentences Bhutto to five years in prison

A Pakistan court today sentenced former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to five years in jail, disqualified her from politics and fined her $ 8.6 million.

''What he (the judge) has done against me is a crime,'' Bhutto told the BBC in Britain. Saying she believed the government would arrest her upon her return to Pakistan within the next week, she said her arrest would only strengthen her Pakistan People's Party.

''They want to eliminate me from politics... (but it will) make PPP workers even more determined to overcome the odds and succeed,'' she said.

At home in Pakistan her supporters were outraged by her conviction and sentence. ''It is totally unfair and the murder of a trial,'' said Naeed Khan, a close friend and PPP worker.

Bhutto is expected to appeal her conviction.

The Rawalpindi branch of the Lahore high court sentenced Bhutto, her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari to five years jail on a charge of corruption.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said the Lahore high court found Bhutto and Zardari guilty of taking kickbacks on government contracts.

''This is very unfortunate not just for the Pakistan People's Party but for all of Pakistan,'' said Wasif Syed, a party worker. ''Benazir always said the judge who has close links to the regime and whose brother is a member of parliament cannot be unbiased,'' he said.

Bhutto was abruptly dismissed from power in 1996 on charges of rampant corruption, economic incompetence and sanctioning police hit squads in her home town of Karachi in the southern Sindh province. She has steadfastly maintained her innocence.

Her husband, who has been criticised even by her supporters as corrupt, has been in jail since Bhutto's government was dismissed.

She faces five other charges of corruption all stemming from her term in office.

Her earlier term in power also came to a sudden end in August 1990 after only 20 months in power. Then too Bhutto and her husband were charged with abusing power, corruption and economic mismanagement. However, no charges were ever proven.

In recent weeks Bhutto has held several news conferences to complain that she is not receiving a fair trial. She accused the judge of being biased against her and denying her lawyers an opportunity to present her defence.

She took her complaint to the supreme court which ordered the lower court to hear her defence. Bhutto also complained bitterly that her lawyers have been harassed by police and intelligence agents, their cars followed.

''Justice must not only be done but most also be seen to be done,'' said Syed.

She complained that her car was routinely searched and police officers had orders to harass her in an attempt to intimidate her. The government denied the charges.

Bhutto faces five other charges of corruption all stemming from her term in office.

UNI

EARLIER REPORTS:
Benazir indicted in illegal recruitment case
Labour party in pain over MP's Benazir connections
Is Nawaz Sharief softpedalling Bhutto misdeeds?
Bhutto's father-in-law held
$ 13.8 million found in Benazir's Swiss accounts
Benazir's Judgement Day
Both Benazir and Jayalalitha lie buried in the ashes of their follies

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