Musharraf Flees After Court Orders Arrest
Islamabad: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf made a dramatic escape from the Islamabad High Court after the court ordered his arrest in the case related to the detention of senior judges in 2007.
The Islamabad High Court dismissed Musharraf's interim bail extension plea and ordered his arrest in a case related to the confinement of judges in 2007, Geo News reported.
Accompanied by his guards, Musharraf, 69, appeared before the court to seek an extension in his bail. However, the court dismissed his plea and ordered his arrest.
The former president lost no time in fleeing from the court premises in a black, bullet-proof SUV with tinted glasses. Escorted by his bodyguards, Musharraf zoomed out of the court premises as security personnel looked on helplessly and TV cameras whirred away.
The former army chief and president, who had returned to Pakistan last month after four years of self-imposed exile, later reached his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he is expected to be arrested, police said.
Musharraf's spokesperson Reza Bukhari told journalists that he was "under protection from the Pakistan government".
Musharraf, he said, would follow all the rules of law and had not fled the court. He was escorted by the Pakistani security establishment, Bukhari said, adding that the court had not acted with wisdom.
"I have spoken to him since he returned from the court. He will pursue the legal channel in front of him. There is an appeal process...," Bukhari was quoted as saying.
In the previous hearing, the high court had extended Musharraf's interim bail till April 18.
