KARACHI: Bail for Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was extended yesterday, court and his party officials said yesterday.
Musharraf appeared in the Sindh High Court, which last week granted him temporary, protective bail before he returned home from four years of self-imposed exile on Sunday.
He was required to appear in person in the court to extend bail.
As he walked to the court room, a lawyer threw a shoe at him, while some 20 lawyers protested, shouting “he’s a dictator and he should be hanged”, witnesses said.
The shoe did not hit Musharraf, TV footage showed. The perpetrator was taken away by security officials.
Judge Sajjad Ali Shah posted bail of 300,000 rupees ($3,000) in the 2007 assassination of Bhutto, the 2007 illegal sacking of judges and the 2006 death of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch rebel leader in the southwest.
A March 22 court ruling prevented officials from arresting Musharraf for 10 days in connection with the judges’ arrests and 14 days in the other cases.
Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.
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.
Court officials said bail in the judges’ case had been extended for two weeks. A member of Musharaff’s All Pakistan Muslim League said he had been granted a 21-day extension in the other cases.
Musharraf remains controversial nearly five years after he resigned in the face of impeachment proceedings and is not thought to be a serious contender in the May election he has vowed to contest. He was a key US ally in the “war on terror”, an alliance that became controversial in Pakistan, and escaped at least three Al Qaeda assassination attempts. AFP
