Case against Musharraf 'political', says interpol; Refuses to arrest him

Islamabad, Aug 29: The Pakistan government on Wednesday told a special court hearing the high-profile treason case against Pervez Musharraf that Interpol has rejected its request to arrest the former military dictator as it does not want to interfere in the cases of political nature.

The government's reply came as the tribunal resumed hearing in the treason case against the Dubai-based former president for suspending the Constitution in 2007 by imposing emergency. Musharraf, 75, has repeatedly refused to return to Pakistan citing security reasons.

The Interior Ministry in its reply on efforts to bring Musharraf back to the country informed the court that a letter was written to Interpol to issue Red Warrant. But it returned the letter by refusing to interfere in cases of political nature.

On August 20, the special court in Islamabad had summoned the interior secretary over non-arrest of Musharraf in the case despite issuance of non-bailable warrants against him.

"The government had approached Interpol to bring back Musharraf, however, they rejected the request," the interior secretary said.

"Interpol officials had said that the high treason case does fall under their legal ambit," he added.

Further, Justice Yawar Ali questioned if Musharraf’s statement in the case can be recorded via Skype.

"Can the investigation move forward without the statement in the case?" he asked.

Adjourning the case till September 10, the court ordered that during the next hearing arguments be given over whether Musharraf’s statement can be recorded via Skype or the investigations can move forward without it.

Musharraf's lawyer Akhar Shah said that the former ruler could not appear in person due to security reasons. He also said that Musharraf’s health was not good and was not allowed by the doctors in Dubai to travel. Shah said that Musharraf will appear before the court if the president-level security was provided to him.

The case was launched in 2013 and Musharraf was subsequently indicted but he left for Dubai on March 2016 for medical treatment with a commitment to come back. Musharraf, the former army chief, has rejected all charges. Musharraf took power in 1999 by toppling democratic government and ruled until 2008 when he was forced to step down.

PTI