A Pakistani court yesterday charged former military ruler and president Pervez Musharraf with the 2007 murder of former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief.
It is the first time a former head of Pakistan’s powerful army has been charged with any crime. While few believe there is evidence to convict Musharraf, it sends a significant message that the power of the military has been challenged in recent years.
Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and ruled until he was forced out after Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party won elections in 2008, was charged on three counts.
Photo: AFP
“He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder and facilitation for murder,” public prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar said at the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi hearing the case.
Musharraf, who celebrated his 70th birthday last week, denied the charges. His appearance was accompanied by massive security and he was protected by scores of security officers.
“The charges were read out to him in the court. He denied the charges,” Azhar said. The case was adjourned until Tuesday next week.
Musharraf’s legal team dismissed the indictment.
“These charges are baseless. We are not afraid of the proceedings. We will follow legal procedures in the court,” his lawyer Syeda Afshan Adil said.
A UN report in 2010 said Bhutto’s death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf’s government of failing to give her adequate protection, but few believe he can be convicted of actual murder.
“There is a long way to go and it will be very, very difficult to prove that he engineered the murder conspiracy or that he was the mastermind,” political analyst Imtiaz Gul said.
“All we have seen is a politically motivated indictment, which may be of no real significance in the long run,” he added.
Neither has the indictment silenced speculation about the possibility of a behind-the-scenes deal that could allow Musharraf to leave Pakistan without going to jail.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to life in prison after being deposed by Musharraf in 1999, but was allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned to win elections in May.
Bhutto, twice elected prime minister of Pakistan and the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007.
In November 2011 the same court indicted two police officers and five alleged Taliban militants over her death, but none of them have yet been brought to trial.
There has never been a public claim of responsibility.
Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese