Court allows bail to Musharraf in mosque raid case
Print Edition
A Pakistan court yesterday granted bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over a deadly raid on a radical mosque, bringing closer his possible release after more than six months of house arrest.
The ruling by an Islamabad district court means the ex-general is on bail in all the cases brought against him since his return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile, including one relating to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
But the 70-year-old is likely to remain under heavy guard at his villa on the edge of Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest since April, because of serious threats to his life.
His name is currently on the interior ministry’s “exit control list,” meaning he cannot leave Pakistan without the approval of the government.
Judge Wajid Ali approved bail on condition Musharraf pays bonds totalling 200,000 rupees (US$2,000).
Defense lawyer Afshan Adil said the money would be paid tomorrow.
“We were expecting this decision from the court,” she said.
Musharraf was arrested last month over the deadly 2007 raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, just a day after he was given bail in the last of three major cases against him dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.
The former commando returned to Pakistan in March to run in the May general election, 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 — the man he ousted from power in 1999 — and was hit with a series of criminal cases.
Musharraf has faced charges over Bhutto’s murder at an election rally in 2007, the death of a Baluch rebel leader in 2006 and the suspension of judges in 2007.
In April he was put under house arrest, an unprecedented move in a country ruled for more than half of its life by the military. The decision was seen by many as a challenge to the power of the armed forces.
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