Musharraf on the run after arrest order
Source: Agencies |
April 19, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FORMER Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was forced to flee a courtroom yesterday moments after judges ordered his arrest, dealing a fresh blow to his fast-fading hopes of reviving his political career at the May 11 general elections.
Musharraf's hasty exit from the Islamabad High Court seemed to symbolize the diminished influence of a former army chief who once dominated Pakistan's political landscape.
"Islamabad High Court has canceled Musharraf's bail and ordered his arrest," Mohammad Amjad, secretary-general of Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League party, said.
Despite Taliban death threats and a host of legal challenges, Musharraf returned from almost four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai last month in the hope of winning a seat in the National Assembly.
But his arrival has placed him at the mercy of judges whose memories are still raw of a showdown in 2007 when he sacked the chief justice, placed his colleagues under house arrest, and lawyers fought running battles with police.
Musharraf's hopes of standing in the elections were dashed earlier this week when election officers barred him from standing, in part due to the various legal challenges he faces.
Yesterday, a judge ordered he be detained in connection with allegations he committed treason during his 2007 confrontation with the judges when he declared emergency rule, a move which violated the constitution.
Pakistani television repeatedly broadcast footage of Musharraf dashing from the court in a black SUV as several lawyers made half-hearted attempts to pursue his vehicle.
Musharraf retreated to a farm in an exclusive residential estate on the outskirts of Islamabad where police set up a cordon restricting access to the area.
Musharraf's hasty exit from the Islamabad High Court seemed to symbolize the diminished influence of a former army chief who once dominated Pakistan's political landscape.
"Islamabad High Court has canceled Musharraf's bail and ordered his arrest," Mohammad Amjad, secretary-general of Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League party, said.
Despite Taliban death threats and a host of legal challenges, Musharraf returned from almost four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai last month in the hope of winning a seat in the National Assembly.
But his arrival has placed him at the mercy of judges whose memories are still raw of a showdown in 2007 when he sacked the chief justice, placed his colleagues under house arrest, and lawyers fought running battles with police.
Musharraf's hopes of standing in the elections were dashed earlier this week when election officers barred him from standing, in part due to the various legal challenges he faces.
Yesterday, a judge ordered he be detained in connection with allegations he committed treason during his 2007 confrontation with the judges when he declared emergency rule, a move which violated the constitution.
Pakistani television repeatedly broadcast footage of Musharraf dashing from the court in a black SUV as several lawyers made half-hearted attempts to pursue his vehicle.
Musharraf retreated to a farm in an exclusive residential estate on the outskirts of Islamabad where police set up a cordon restricting access to the area.
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