Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf arrested

[indian_foxhound]

Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was today arrested in a case relating to
the imposition of Emergency rule in 2007 and was
presented before a magistrate, becoming the
country's first former army chief to face such
action. Police officials arrested the 69-year-old former
military leader this morning and took him to the
court of judicial magistrate Muhammad Abbas
Shah. The police officials informed the magistrate that
they did not need physical custody of Mr
Musharraf and he could be placed in judicial
custody. However, lawyers for several persons who have
filed petitions against Mr Musharraf for imposing
Emergency in 2007 and detaining over 60
members of the superior judiciary contended that
he should kept in police custody. They also questioned why Mr Musharraf had not
been handcuffed by police after his arrest. His lawyer Qamar Afzal argued that his client
should be kept in judicial custody as there were
serious threats to his life. The magistrate reserved
his verdict in the matter and Mr Musharraf left the
court complex after waiting for some time for a
decision. Footage on television showed Mr Musharraf being
led into the magistrate's small office by dozens of
policemen and paramilitary personnel. He looked
shaken and was wearing a waistcoat over a
salwar kameez. Sources said that authorities had asked for Mr
Musharraf to be placed in judicial custody as this
would allow the administration of Islamabad to
declare his farmhouse at Chak Shahzad a 'sub-jail'
and detain him there. Authorities have been focusing on this measure as
officials are not keen on holding Musharraf at a jail
due to threats to his life. The arrest came a day after the Islamabad High
Court ordered the arrest of Mr Musharraf for not
cooperating with police officials investigating a
case registered against him for detaining dozens of
judges, including Supreme Court Chief Justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry, during the 2007 Emergency. However, immediately after Justice Shaukat Aziz
Siddiqui revoked his pre-arrest bail and ordered
police to detain him, Musharraf and his security
detail fled from the Islamabad High Court complex
and drove to his farmhouse. Mr Musharraf's lawyers were unable to file an
appeal in the Supreme Court yesterday as they
were unable to complete certain formalities before
the court closed for the day. Analysts said Mr Musharraf's arrest could put the
judiciary in conflict with the powerful military,
which would not like to see a former chief being
humiliated or insulted in public. The analysts further said that if Musharraf was put
on trial, members of the current military leadership,
including army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,
could be dragged into the matter as they were
part of Musharraf's inner circle when he imposed
emergency rule in 2007. Mr Musharraf has had to grapple with numerous
legal problems since he returned to the country last
month after nearly four years in self-exile. Earlier this week, he was disqualified from
contesting next month's general election,
effectively ending his ambitions for a political
comeback. Authorities have also barred him from
travelling out of Pakistan.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/former-pakistan-president-pervez-musharraf-arrested-356092

 

[Edevelop]

Pakistan's Musharraf Lashes Out After Arrest



Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf criticized allegations against him as "politically motivated" Friday, following his arrest in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power.

Police arrested former Musharraf overnight at his home in the capital, Islamabad, where he holed up following a dramatic escape from court Thursday morning to avoid being detained. Musharraf fled the Islamabad High Court in a speeding vehicle after a judge rejected his bail and ordered his arrest.

It was a new low in Musharraf's troubled return from self-imposed exile last month to attempt a political comeback in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Police presented Musharraf before Islamabad District Court on Friday morning after arresting him, said police officer Mohammed Khalid. Local TV video showed Musharraf entering the court surrounded by a heavy security detachment of police and paramilitary soldiers.

The district court judge instructed police to keep Musharraf in their custody for two days and then present him before an anti-terrorism court, said one of his lawyers, Malik Qamar Afzal. His legal team is trying to decide what to do next, said Afzal.

Police returned Musharraf to his home on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he is being held under house arrest, said police officer Mohammed Rafique.

"These allegations are politically motivated, and I will fight them in the trial court, where the truth will eventually prevail," Musharraf said in a message posted on his Facebook page Friday after he was arrested.

The decision by the police to arrest Musharraf ended an awkward situation in which the former military ruler was being protected by security forces for hours while holed up in his house, but none of them made a move to detain him. They were likely awaiting orders from senior officials trying to figure out how to deal with the delicate situation.

Pakistan's government has been reluctant to wade into the controversy surrounding Musharraf since he returned last month, especially given his position as a former chief of the army, considered the most powerful institution in the country.

His return also presents complications for the current army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who may have to decide whether to intervene to protect Musharraf or watch him be prosecuted. If Musharraf is sent to prison, it would be the first time an army chief has been put behind bars in the country's 65-year history.

Musharraf seized control in a coup in 1999 and spent nearly a decade in power before being forced to step down in 2008. Despite legal challenges and Taliban death threats, he returned last month after four years in London and Dubai.

But he has received paltry public support, and earlier this week he was disqualified from running in the May 11 election because of his actions while in power. A court has also barred him from leaving the country.

The upcoming vote is historic because it will mark the first time in Pakistan that parliament has completed its full five-year term and handed over power in democratic elections. The country has experienced three military coups and constant political instability since it was founded in 1947.

Thursday's case before the Islamabad High Court involved Musharraf's decision to dismiss senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, when he declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution in 2007. He was concerned the judges would challenge his re-election as president, citing the growing Taliban insurgency in the country as justification for the state of emergency.

The man who filed the petition before the Islamabad High Court, Aslam Ghuman, also accused Musharraf of placing the judges under house arrest.

Musharraf's spokeswoman, Aasia Ishaq, denied he issued an arrest order then, even though the judges were clearly confined to their homes. Government officials at the time claimed they restricted the movement of the judges for their own security.

Musharraf's crackdown on the judges outraged many Pakistanis and fueled a nationwide protest movement by lawyers that eventually resulted in him stepping down under threat of impeachment.

Before he returned to the country, Musharraf was granted bail for the judges' case and two others, meaning he could not be arrested when he landed — a feature of Pakistan's legal system. But the bail agreement was temporary.

An Islamabad High Court judge, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who extended the bail agreement once on April 12, refused to do so again Thursday and ordered Musharraf's arrest, according to a copy of the court order. The judge ordered Musharraf to be investigated under an anti-terrorism law, which does not allow bail, the order said.

Siddiqui wrote that Musharraf's "shameful" decision to arrest judges "spread fear in society ... and terror throughout Pakistan."

Immediately following the judge's arrest order, Musharraf's bodyguards hustled him out of the court past policemen and paramilitary soldiers and helped him into a black SUV. The vehicle sped off with a member of Musharraf's security team hanging on the side of the vehicle.

The security forces on duty at the court seemed caught off guard, and nobody appeared to try to prevent Musharraf from leaving as he pushed past them.

Lawyers taunted the 69-year-old as he roared away, yelling, "Look who is running! Musharraf is running!"

Musharraf is facing a raft of other legal challenges, including allegations before the Supreme Court that he committed treason while in power. He also faces legal charges in two other cases. One involves allegations that Musharraf didn't provide adequate security to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a gunfire and suicide attack in 2007. The other relates to the death of a nationalist leader in Baluchistan in 2006.

Given the legal challenges and Taliban threats against Musharraf, many experts have been left scratching their heads as to why he returned. Some have speculated he misjudged the level of public backing he would get, while others suggested he was simply homesick.

Pakistan's Musharraf Lashes Out After Arrest : NPR