Court extends Musharraf's home arrest
Iran Press TV
Tue Apr 30, 2013 7:24AM GMT
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has extended the term of home arrest of the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over a charge of murdering ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
During a court session in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday, Musharraf also was banned to leave his home on May 11 election day.
"The court granted a 14-day judicial remand and ordered that Musharraf be kept in a judicial lock-up until May 14," said prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar on Tuesday.
Last month, the retired general returned to Pakistan after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai to take part in the elections but he was barred from running and will now spend polling day under house arrest in his Islamabad villa.
Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in December 2007 as she was leaving an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The Bhutto case is the second of three cases against Musharraf dating back to his rule from 1999 to 2008. He is also accused in a case relating to the death of a Baluch leader during a 2006 military operation.
Human Rights Watch has called on the Pakistani government to hold Musharraf accountable for widespread and serious human rights abuses committed when he was president.
Pakistan will hold its National Assembly elections on May 11. The National Assembly has a total of 342 members, of which 272 are elected by popular vote. The last National Assembly elections were held in February 2008.
Pakistan will also hold elections for 577 seats of the Provincial Assemblies on the same day.
DB/HN
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
