Seven Pakistani men indicted in Bhutto assassination.

In Pakistan, a national antiterrorism court has indicted five terrorists and two police officers in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (Catholic Online) - Bhutto was killed following an election rally in 2007 by a suicide bomber and at least one gunman. Her attackers died in the assault, and seven others have been charged for involvement with her murder including the former police chief of the town where the assassination took place.

Of the five terrorists that were arrested, they're all known to be members of the Pakistani Taliban, and they have been in jail since 2007. At least two of them have admitted their guilt.

The two other men, the city's former chief of police and another high-ranking officer, remain free on bail. The officers are charged with failure to perform their duties. Specifically, we are accused of stripping down Ms. Bhutto's security detail days before the attack, and having the crime scene hosed down and destroying crucial evidence just two hours following the assassination.

Despite previous admissions of guilt, all seven denied the formal charges against them on Saturday.

Ms. Bhutto was tragically assassinated on December 27, 2007 as she stood in the sunroof of her car waving to crowds just two weeks before Pakistan's parliamentary elections. She had served previously as prime minister of Pakistan twice, and she was a leader of that country's largest political party. After she returned from eight years in exile, she was running for a third term in office when she was killed.

The level of conspiracy required for her assassination has raised many questions from investigators. Among those questions, what role did then President Pervez Musharraf, who was her direct political rival, have a plot, if any? Musharraf has not commented on the assassination, and remains in exile in London. It is unclear if he knew about the plot beforehand.

The mastermind of the plot, Baitullah Mehsud, was the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He cannot be questioned because he was killed by a CIA drone strike in 2009.

Although it has taken four years to bring formal indictments against the accused, people throughout the region have faith that the Pakistani system will deliver justice to Ms. Bhutto and her assassins.

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