PAKISTAN/FILE: Court grants bail to former president Pervez Musharraf who has been under house arrest on charges of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her 2007 assassination

Record ID: 567021

  • Title: PAKISTAN/FILE: Court grants bail to former president Pervez Musharraf who has been under house arrest on charges of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her 2007 assassination
  • Date: 20th May 2013
  • Summary: RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (FILE - APRIL 17, 2013) (REUTERS) POLICEMAN'S GUN BARREL WITH RAWALPINDI HIGH COURT BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ARRIVING TO BEEF UP SECURITY BEFORE MUSHARRAF'S HEARING MUSHARRAF ENTERING COURT SOLDIERS ON GUARD OUTSIDE COURT MUSHARRAF COMING OUT OF COURT / SALUTING TO HIS SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADO9NCHC57GRHKJW44BGNY878Q
  • Story Text: A Pakistani court on Monday (May 20) granted bail to former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf who has been under house arrest on charges of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her 2007 assassination.
    Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, returned to Pakistan in March after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest a May 11 general election, but he was disqualified from standing because of pending court cases.
    On April 30, an anti-terrorism court put Musharraf on 14-day judicial remand on charges of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto before her 2007 assassination.
    "The previous government on the basis of reports submitted from various agencies they tried to implicate Pervez Musharraf into this case and the logic behind that was that Pervez Musharraf did not provide enough security to the former prime minister as it was required for her. Number one. Number two, there was another allegation that after this incident, on the instructions of Pervez Musharraf, that place where this incident took place -- Liaqat Bagh -- the road was cleaned with water and it should not be done so quickly," Musharraf's spokesman Dr. Mohammad Amjad told Reuters Television in Islamabad.
    Amjad said, after hearing arguments from the prosecution as well as the defence lawyers, the ATC (anti-terrorism court) judge decided to grant bail to the former president.
    "He finally decided and granted bail to Pervez Musharraf on permanent basis. And that bail was granted against the security of two million rupees ($20,315) in shape of property or other kind. So in this case our stance was from the very beginning that Pervez Musharraf is innocent, he is not guilty, he is not involved in the murder of Benazir Bhutto," Amjad said.
    Musharraf became the first former army chief to be arrested, breaking an unwritten rule that the top ranks of the military are untouchable, even after they have retired.
    On April 20, another court remanded the former president in custody for two weeks as judges pushed ahead with plans to put Musharraf on trial for a crackdown on the judiciary during his time in office.
    The acceptance of the former commando's bail application could see him leave the country despite the fact that the Supreme Court has directed that he should stay put.
    Many observers believe a face-saving reason for his departure, perhaps on grounds of ill health, will be found.
    But Amjad said, despite the latest court order, Musharraf would not be a free man because he was still under detention in the case involving the crackdown on judges.
    "After this bail, in this particular case of Benazir Bhutto murder case, he is free to move wherever he wants from tomorrow onwards, but unluckily Pervez Musharraf is also under the judicial remand in another case which is called the Judges Detention case where he was sent to the jail for 14 days and then it was extended. So because of that case he cannot get out of the jail. So in that case we also have to take the bail from the other court, which we have already submitted," he said.
    The May 11 election was won by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister Musharraf ousted in his coup 14 years ago.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register