Daily Times

Former army chief and coup-maker General (retd) Pervez Musharraf must be ruing his decision to come back to Pakistan, considering he is now facing a plethora of cases against him. The FIA has declared Musharraf the ‘prime accused’ in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. He has also been charged with hatching a conspiracy to assassinate Benazir Bhutto. The Deputy Director of FIA, Khalid Rasool, appearing before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) presented a charge sheet against the former dictator. The FIA listed Musharraf as the main accused in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, as opposed to earlier naming him as one of the accused. The charge sheet contained the statements of four witnesses, including Benazir Bhutto’s own statement in which she specified that Musharraf be held responsible in the event that she was assassinated. Another witness to the case, Mark Siegel has said on record that he was with Benazir Bhutto when she received a call from Musharraf who categorically refused to provide security to her if she came back to Pakistan before the 2008 elections. He further stated that Bhutto was visibly anguished after Musharraf’s phone call. To further strengthen the case against Musharraf, former secretary of interior Kamal Shah’s statement is also part of the charge sheet in which he reveals that he sent a request to Musharraf, President of Pakistan at the time, to provide security cover to Benazir on her arrival but his request was ignored as no directives were issued from the Presidency. The ATC has ordered the FIA to produce Musharraf before the court on July 2, the day on which the indictment process against him would start.

It seems as if the noose around Musharraf’s neck is tightening as the charge sheet against him was presented in the ATC just a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif revealed his government’s intentions to try the ex-army chief for high treason under Article 6 of the constitution. The ISPR has remained silent over the trial proceedings against Musharraf, leading many to speculate about what, if any, the army’s role will be in this whole scenario. The rumours that surfaced in recent weeks about a safe exit being granted to Musharraf seem to have been quelled as he is being tried for numerous charges. Also, Musharraf’s trial signifies the strengthening of democracy in Pakistan as this is the first time that an ex-army chief has been arrested and is being made answerable for all the crimes he committed. If the cases against Musharraf are decided in an impartial and transparent manner, then a precedent would be established making it abundantly clear that no one can escape from the clutches of the law. *