Bhutto's trial
Sir: Victoria Schofield's article 'The trial of Bhutto' (15 July) gives the impression of being a one-sided exposé of a person who does not even conceal her bias. In the verY beginning of the article by remarking that in
East Pakistan House thei`Bengalis came ta plead their case before their Punjabi masters', she has given away her negative thinking. I would not like to enter into a debate on this reportage of the hearing of Mr Bhutto's, appeal in the Supreme Court and Woulu only point out that the writer seems to have accepted everything in favour of Mr Bhutto as 'the truth' and everything against him as false. She has chosen to project Mr YehYa Bakhtiar's points made before the Supreme Court. Naturally Mr Bakhtiar, being tile attorney of Mr Bhutto, had to plead the innocence of his client. Whether or not what he said is true will depend on the reply Yet t° be given by the prosecution counsel. Victoria Schofield, in her attempt to SUP port Mr Bakhtiar's claim that the evidence presented in the Lahore High Court was false and fabricated, has cited the affidavit of the former Director of the Pakistan Intelligence Bureau, Rao Abdur Rashid, daily' ing that he was approached to fabricate evi" dence against the former Prime Minister' but she has conveniently ignored theconfession of Mian Abbas, the former Director of Operations of the Federal Security Force (who is among those convicted along with Mr Bhutto), that he did conspire to murder Mr Ahmed Raza Kasuri and that his earlier statement professing innocence in the High Court was false. While discussing the imPaf tiality or otherwise of the Supreme Cou' Victoria Schofield has also chosen not t° mention the impressions of senior jurists from the Western world who attended thet Supreme Court hearing and confirmed tha it was being conducted according to the established norms of justice. The High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan have, during the last thirty Years' established their independence and iniPar: tiality b'eyond any doubt and no amount or, charges to the contrary made by interesteo parties is going to change this fact.
M. Zubair Ali Counsellor (Press), Embassy of Pakistan, London SW1
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