Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Monday granted bail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case, but the ex-president will remain under house arrest. The granting of bail does not mean that 69-year-old Musharraf, who is currently being held at his palatial farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, will be freed as he faces two other cases - detaining dozens of judges during the 2007 emergency and for the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation.
Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman of the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi granted bail to Musharraf against two surety bonds of Rs 10 lakh each. In the morning, the judge had reserved his decision after hearing arguments by lawyers of both sides. The judge announced his decision in the afternoon.
During the arguments, Musharraf's lawyer Salman Safdar said there was no solid evidence or witness against his client. He said Musharraf had not been blamed for the 2007 suicide attack that killed Bhutto by the family of any of the victims.
Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar of the Federal Investigation Agency opposed Musharraf's bail petition, saying the former President could flee Pakistan if he was freed from detention. Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. Musharraf has been accused of providing inadequate security to Bhutto....
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06:11 PM, May 20, 2013
Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday extended by 14 days former President Pervez Musharraf's judicial remand over the detention of judges during the 2007 emergency. Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi of the anti-terrorism court also accepted a plea from Musharraf s lawyers that he should be exempted from appearing in the court on Saturday. 69-year-old Musharraf could not be produced in court for security reasons, officials said. The judge...
02:59 PM, May 18, 2013
Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's judicial remand over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007 was extended by a fortnight on Tuesday by an anti-terrorism court. The court of Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman in Rawalpindi extended Musharraf's judicial remand till May 28 and also put off hearing his bail application till May 20, prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told reporters. The next hearing of the Bhutto assassination case will be held on...
02:06 PM, May 14, 2013
Lahore: With just a day to go for elections in Pakistan, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son Ali Haider was abducted by a Taliban group in Punjab province. The news has shaken Pakistan. But As Taliban militants took away Gilani's son in the final hours of campaigning on Thursday, it was only the latest in a series of attacks on the election process. In the past month, more than...
08:59 AM, May 10, 2013
As Pakistan braces for the May 11 national elections, this will be the first time that a democratically elected government has completed its full term and elections are being held on time. So how are the odds stacked up? Can President Zardari's PPP beat the anti-incumbency wave? Or are Imran Khan's PTI and Nawaz Sharif's PML-N poised to put up a formidable fight? What are the main issues? Pakistani political...
06:22 PM, May 09, 2013
Islamabad: A special Pakistani anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Saturday extended the judicial remand of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf by 14 days, in connection with his decision to place judges under house arrest during the 2007 emergency. "Pervez Musharraf's remand is extended for judicial lock-up for 14 days, he should be presented before the court on May 18," Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi ordered. Musharraf's lawyers filed a bail application...
08:46 PM, May 04, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left on a foreign trip and will not be present in the country when it goes to polls on May 11, according to a media report on Friday. Bilawal, 24, will not address any rallies or meetings ahead of the general elections due to threats to his life, sources in the PPP were quoted as saying in the report on...
11:17 AM, May 04, 2013
Islamabad: The party of former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf, facing a series of legal cases over his actions while in power, on Friday said it would boycott Pakistan's May 11, 2013 general election. The move came in the wake of the Peshawar High Court's order barring Musharraf from contesting polls for the rest of his life. Musharraf has also been arrested over the imposition of emergency rule in 2007,...
01:19 AM, May 04, 2013
Islamabad: The Pakistani prosecutor handling the 26/11 Mumbai attack case and the Benazir Bhutto assassination case has reportedly been shot dead in Islamabad. Chaudhry Zulfiqar, the prosecutor of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), was shot dead by unidentified armed men in Islamabad on Friday morning, Pakistan's Geo News reported. Reports say unidentified armed motorcycle-borne men opened fire on Chaudhry Zulfiqar. He was critically injured and was being rushed to the hospital...
09:22 AM, May 03, 2013
Why the real game changer in Pakistan's elections could be the radical right, and why India should worry. It was a speech made with ...
07:56 AM, May 03, 2013
Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Tuesday sent to judicial custody for a fortnight by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case. The court in Rawalpindi had said at the last hearing that Musharraf should be produced for Tuesday's hearing but he was not presented before the judge for security reasons, said chief prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali of the Federal Investigation Agency. Though Musharraf was...
11:34 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistani investigators probing the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto have decided to quiz Rehman Malik after being told by Pervez Musharraf that the former interior minister had decided details of her security on the day she was killed. Malik was head of Bhutto's security when she returned to Pakistan from self-exile in late 2007. Federal Investigation Agency officials who questioned the former president after his arrest over...
01:48 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Islamabad: The first general elections in Pakistan that will usher in a smooth democratic transfer of power in 66 years is likely to go down to the wire with no party expected to get a majority. With less than two weeks to go for the landmark election to choose the 342-member National Assembly, two-time former premier Nawaz Sharif appears to have an edge over others and his group may emerge...
01:03 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Friday remanded Pervez Musharraf to the physical custody of the Federal Investigation Agency till April 30 in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. During a brief hearing at the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman accepted the FIA's request to be given physical custody of the 69-year-old former military ruler. The FIA's lawyers told the judge that they wanted...
12:11 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Islamabad/Lahore: Pervez Musharraf was on Thursday formally arrested by Pakistani investigators over the murder of Benazir Bhutto after an anti-terrorism court directed them to include the former President in the probe into the 2007 assassination. A team of officials from the Federal Investigation Agency formally arrested Musharraf at his palatial farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, which was declared a "sub-jail" after he was remanded to judicial custody last week....
02:47 AM, Apr 26, 2013
Islamabad: The Lahore High Court has cancelled former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's interim bail in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case. This comes at a time when Musharraf is under house arrest in another case. Musharraf returned to his farmhouse which has been declared a sub-jail and where he was ordered to serve 14 days in judicial custody by an anti-terrorism court, in Islamabad on Saturday. He had spent the night...
02:12 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Tuesday ordered the Federal Investigation Agency to include former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, a "proclaimed offender", in the probe into the assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Musharraf appeared before Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman for the first time since the Rawalpindi-based court began hearing the case in 2008. His lawyer asked the judge to withdraw orders declaring Musharraf a fugitive and freezing his...
08:52 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Wednesday extended Pervez Musharraf's bail over the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto even as the apex court summoned a top official to explain the government's position on taking action against the former dictator for imposing emergency in 2007. Musharraf, who returned home last month after nearly four years in self-exile, personally appeared before a division bench of the Lahore High Court in Rawalpindi for...
08:34 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Islamabad: Ex-President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday failed to appear before a Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of suspects charged with involvement in the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and was subsequently summoned for the next hearing on April 23. During proceedings held behind closed doors at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman summoned all the accused, including former military ruler Musharraf, for the next hearing. Musharraf...
02:10 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Islamabad: Shunning his tight security cover, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari made a rare public appearance when he dined out with his daughter Aseefa at a Chinese restaurant in the southern port city of Karachi. Zardari went to the China Kitchen in the post Clifton neighbourhood on Monday evening, surprising both the management of the restaurant and other diners. The restaurant is located close to Bilawal House, Zardari's private residence...
03:25 PM, Apr 10, 2013
