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A Pakistani court yesterday ordered the arrest of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who immediately sped off to his villa on the edge of Islamabad, protected by barbed wire and armed police. |
Musharraf faced no resistance from scores of law enforcement agents as he left the Islamabad High Court after the judge ordered his arrest over his controversial decision to dismiss judges when he imposed emergency rule in 2007.
It remains unclear if and when he could be detained, but yesterday’s order was the latest humiliating blow against the man who returned to Pakistan last month to contest elections after four years in self-imposed exile.
Dozens of riot police carrying shields and batons massed outside Musharraf’s villa and closed access to the street in the upmarket suburb of Chak Shahzad, but there were no moves to take the 69-year-old into custody.
Dozens of supporters chanted “this is injustice” and “long live Musharraf” as his office announced it would appeal against the order in the Supreme Court, denouncing the decision as motivated by “personal vendettas”.
Musharraf’s lawyers said the appeal would be filed today.
“We expect this unwarranted judicial activism, seemingly motivated by personal vendettas... will cease and the Supreme Court, without prejudice, will immediately grant necessary relief,” his office said.
A spokesman for his All Pakistan Muslim League told AFP that if the Supreme Court upholds the order, then Musharraf is expected to be put under house arrest, describing the retired general as “composed and confident”.
“Musharraf did not flee the court. Actually there was no police official to arrest him and nobody tried to arrest him,” the spokesman said.
The Supreme Court is already hearing a separate petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf face trial for treason for subverting the constitution by imposing emergency law in 2007, punishable by death or life in prison.
A senior police official said on condition of anonymity that normal procedure would have been an immediate arrest at the court, but conceded no effort appeared to have been made to detain him there.
“His house will now most likely be declared as sub-jail and he will be put under house-arrest,” he said.
The case is one of three against Musharraf in the Pakistani courts. He is also accused of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during a military operation in 2006.
The retired general seized power in 1999 in a bloodless coup, which was widely welcomed at the time in Pakistan, but he was forced out, threatened with impeachment in August 2008.
The elected prime minister he ousted, Nawaz Sharif, is now the front-runner in the campaign for the May 11 general election.
On Tuesday Musharraf was disqualified from running for parliament, ending his hopes of a political comeback built on the promise that he alone could “save” the country from poverty and insecurity.
A day earlier, at a press conference meant to unveil his party manifesto but overshadowed by questions about the cases against him, he told journalists that he was prepared to go to jail,
The US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the military authorities overseeing Musharraf’s protection to ensure that he presents himself for arrest.
“General Musharraf’s act today underscores his disregard for due legal process and indicates his assumption that as a former army chief and military dictator he can evade accountability for abuses,” said HRW’s Pakistan director, Ali Dayan Hasan.
On Wednesday, a court in Rawalpindi extended his bail until April 24 over Bhutto’s killing. The former prime minister died in a gun and suicide attack at the end of an election rally in the garrison city on December 27, 2007.
In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto’s death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf’s government of failing to give her adequate protection.
Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is chairman of the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.