Former president will remain under house arrest until his case is reconvened on Oct. 25.
A court in Pakistan on Friday ordered former president Pervez Musharraf to be held for 14 days over a 2007 raid on a radical mosque, a decision that means he must remain under house arrest.
Police arrested Musharraf late on Thursday over the military raid on the Lal Masjid, which left dozens dead a day after a court granted him bail in a separate case. The 70-year-old has been confined to his house on the edge of Islamabad, which has been declared a sub-jail since April over a string of cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted him bail over the death of rebel leader Akbar Bugti, a move that could have seen him freed once release procedures were completed. He had already been granted bail in two other major cases against him, including one relating to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
“The court remanded Musharraf for 14 days. The next date of hearing has been fixed for Oct. 25,” said a court official. Musharraf’s lawyer Afshan Adil confirmed the details of the order.
The former chief of Army staff returned to Pakistan in March to run in the May general elections, vowing to save the country from economic collapse and militancy. But he was barred from standing in the election, won convincingly by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and was hit with a barrage of criminal cases dating back to his rule.
Taking the former chief of army staff into custody was an unprecedented move in a country ruled for more than half of its life by the military. It was seen by many as a challenge to the power of the armed forces.
Though Musharraf’s lawyers said Wednesday’s bail order meant he was a “free man,” in practice his life is in such danger that he cannot leave his house, where he is guarded by 300 heavily-armed police and soldiers.
The Taliban have threatened to kill the 70-year-old former general, who as president allied Pakistan with Washington in the U.S.-led war on terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Since Sharif won the election there have been repeated rumors that a deal would be reached to allow Musharraf to leave Pakistan before his trials were completed. But interior ministry officials have confirmed that his name remains on the exit control list, so he is officially barred from leaving Pakistan.
1 comment
musharraf k saath zulam ho raha hai. usne pakistan k leay buhat kuch kia hai. nawaz sharif aur zardari ne tu pakistan ko tbah o barbad kiya. we love musharraf