Benazir Bhutto, A Voice Silenced

Three days before her assassination, Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto made an online appeal for donations. “The Pakistan People’s Party is ready to lead our beloved country into a brighter future of prosperity, peace, and security,” she wrote.

Bhutto showed a knack for using the Internet to get attention. Most notable, Pakistan’s former prime minister explained in a Huffington Post blog back in September why she was returning to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai. “My husband and children accept and understand that my political responsibilities to the people of Pakistan come first,” she explained at the time.

And, her Pakistan People’s Party Web site provided a mechanism for supporters to make an online campaign contribution before Pakistan’s election on January 8. The Web site, she wrote, “makes it possible for friends of Pakistan to participate in the democratic process, even from a distance.”