A Pakistani court on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrant for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the assassination of two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi, near here, issued the arrest warrant for Mr Musharraf, who has formed his own party, the All-Pakistan Muslim League, and plans to return from exile to participate in politics. Benazir was assassinated on December 27, 2007 as she was leaving Rawalpindi’s Liaqat Bagh in a motorcade.
The court asked the Federal Investigation Agency to present the former military ruler before it on February 19, failing which the court would consider him an “offender”.
The prosecutors presented an FIA chargesheet saying Mr Musharraf, President at the time of the assassination, had refused a request to cooperate in the investigation.
A UN commission that probed Bhutto’s assassination held Mr Musharraf responsible for failing to provide adequate security.
[A close aide of Mr Musharraf said the former general would not appear in court despite the arrest warrant and termed the move as an attempt at intimidation. “There is no possibility of him appearing in court,” Muhammad Ali Saif, his legal adviser, told PTI.]
The latest FIA investigation report says, “Pervez Musharraf was equally responsible for facilitation and abetment of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto through his government and justified failure in providing her the requisite security protection that her status demanded twice. There was a security lapse.”