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Pakistani Court Indicts Musharraf in Assassination of Bhutto Pakistani Court Indicts Musharraf in Bhutto Assassination
(about 3 hours later)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Pakistani court indicted Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday in connection with the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the first time that a former military leader has faced criminal proceedings in Pakistan. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In a sudden erosion of military privilege and impunity, a Pakistani court indicted the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday in connection with the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto – the first time that such a senior general has faced criminal charges.
The court in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, filed three charges against Mr. Musharraf, including murder and conspiracy to murder, said a prosecutor, Chaudhry Muhammed Azhar. The court filed three charges against Mr. Musharraf, 70, including murder and conspiracy to murder, said a prosecutor, Chaudhry Muhammed Azhar. He spoke after the court’s brief hearing in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Reporters were excluded from the hearing.
Mr. Musharraf, who has maintained that the charges against him are politically motivated, pleaded not guilty, his lawyers said. Reporters were excluded from the hearing. Afterward, police commandos and paramilitary rangers escorted Mr. Musharraf back to his villa on the edge of Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest since April in connection with other cases stemming from his rule from 1999 to 2008. Mr. Musharraf, who previously described the case against him as politically motivated, pleaded not guilty, his lawyers said. Afterward, police commandos and paramilitary rangers escorted him back to his villa on the edge of the capital, Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest since April in connection with other cases stemming from his rule, from 1999 to 2008.
The sight of a once untouchable general being called to account by a court had a potent symbolism in a country that has been ruled by the military for about half of its 66-year history. While the military remains deeply powerful, the prosecution has sent the message that Pakistan’s top generals are subject to the rule of law — at least after they have retired. The symbolism of a once untouchable general being called to account was potent s in a country that has been ruled by the military for about half of its 66-year history. While the military remains deeply powerful, the prosecution of Mr. Musharraf signaled that even Pakistan’s top generals are subject to the rule of law — at least after they have retired.
Mr. Musharraf did not speak to reporters as he left the hearing, but Rashid Qureshi, a retired general and aide, condemned the charges as “totally ridiculous.” Mr. Musharraf did not speak to reporters as he left the hearing, surrounded by a phalanx of security guards. His spokesman, Reza Bokhari, later called the charges “false, fabricated and fictitious” and said they represented “an undignified attempt to smear the honor and integrity of the former president.”
“There is no proof in the charges they have made,” he told the BBC. “This is how the judiciary takes revenge.” The former ruler’s indictment spurred skepticism among some Pakistanis, who saw it as a moment of political revenge and misleading clarity in a case still clouded by confusion, obfuscation and the mysterious deaths of potential witnesses and prosecutors over the years.
The case against Mr. Musharraf is believed to rest largely on a statement by Mark Siegel, a Washington lobbyist and friend of Ms. Bhutto, who says that Mr. Musharraf made a threatening phone call to her before she returned to Pakistan in October 2007. Ms. Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack as she left a rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. Indeed, prosecutors have given little detail about how Mr. Musharraf might be linked to Ms. Bhutto’s death. The new charges are believed to rely heavily on a statement by Mark Siegel, a Washington lobbyist and friend of Ms. Bhutto’s, who said that Mr. Musharraf made a threatening phone call to her before she returned to Pakistan in October 2007.
Mr. Siegel said Ms. Bhutto had warned him in an e-mail that if she were killed, the blame should fall on four named people — a former director of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, Pakistan’s main spy agency; a military intelligence agent; a political rival; and Mr. Musharraf. Mr. Siegel said Ms. Bhutto had warned him in an e-mail that if she were killed, the blame should fall on four named people — a former director of the I.S.I. spy service, a military intelligence chief, a rival politician, and Mr. Musharraf, who was then president and army chief.
Otherwise, the prosecution has not made the basis of the charges against Mr. Musharraf public. Two months later, Ms. Bhutto was killed during a gun and bomb attack as she left a rally in Rawalpindi. Mr. Musharraf’s government quickly blamed Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. Weeks later, the then-head of the C.I.A., Michael V. Hayden, agreed with that assessment.
As Pakistan plunged into turmoil after Ms. Bhutto’s killing, Mr. Musharraf’s government quickly blamed Baitullah Mehsud, the former head of the Pakistani Taliban, for the murder. Weeks later, the then-head of the C.I.A., Michael V. Hayden, agreed with that assessment.
“We have no reason to question that,” he told The Washington Post. Eighteen months later, the C.I.A. killed Mr. Mehsud in a drone strike in the tribal belt.“We have no reason to question that,” he told The Washington Post. Eighteen months later, the C.I.A. killed Mr. Mehsud in a drone strike in the tribal belt.
To a large degree, Mr. Musharraf has brought his misfortunes upon himself. Against the advice of many aides, including senior generals, he returned to Pakistan from exile in March in the hope of contesting elections and resurrecting his dormant political career. Instead he quickly fell afoul of the courts, which are controlled by an old rival, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who in 2007 led a protest movement against Mr. Musharraf that contributed to his downfall. The court action on Tuesday provided the most dramatic chapter yet in a steep fall from grace for Mr. Musharraf, a swaggering, whiskey-swilling general who seized power in 1999. Over his nine-year rule he become a crucial ally of the United States and escaped several Al Qaeda assassination attempts – all the while pursuing an ambiguous policy toward other jihadi groups, including the Afghan Taliban.
The courts have revived charges against Mr. Musharraf in several cases, including the assassination of Ms. Bhutto. Sweeping street protests, led by lawyers, forced Mr. Musharraf to step down in 2008, and he fled into exile in London and Dubai.
Six other people were also indicted on Tuesday in connection with Ms. Bhutto’s death, including two senior police officers who stand accused of negligence or helping to cover up the assassination. To a large degree, he has brought his recent misfortunes upon himself. Against the advice of many aides, including senior generals, he returned to Pakistan from exile in March in the hope of contesting elections and resurrecting his dormant political career, vowing the save the country from chaos.
They include Saud Aziz, a former Rawalpindi police chief, and Khurram Shehzad, a former superintendent of police, both of whom are accused of failing to provide adequate security to Ms. Bhutto and of removing crucial evidence by hosing down the crime scene soon after the assassination. But instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, Mr. Musharraf was mocked by political rivals, mostly ignored by the media and collared by the courts, which are controlled by his old rival, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – the famously stubborn judge who had led the protest movement against Mr. Musharraf in 2007.
The politically charged case is likely to strain relations between Pakistan’s judicial, political and military leaders. Mr. Musharraf already faces potential treason charges in a separate case that has caused simmering anger within the military’s ranks. The courts have revived charges against Mr. Musharraf in four cases. But it is the Bhutto prosecution, and a potential treason prosecution, that are mostly like to strain relations among the country’s judicial, political and military leaders.
The treason prosecution is supported by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose last stint in power ended in 1999 after he was ousted by Mr. Musharraf in a coup. The treason prosecution is supported by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose last stint in power ended in 1999 after he was ousted by Mr. Musharraf in a coup. But inside the military, the prospect of a former military chief facing a potential death penalty has caused simmering anger.
Security is a major concern for Mr. Musharraf, who has faced repeated Taliban death threats since he returned to Pakistan. A previous hearing, scheduled for Aug. 6, was postponed over fears for his life. The Bhutto case, meanwhile, has become embroiled in bitter contention and violent intrigue. Apart from Mr. Musharraf, six other people were also indicated at Tuesday’s court hearing, including two senior police officers who face accusations that they sanitized the Bhutto crime scene.
But those prosecuting Mr. Musharraf have also faced mortal peril. In May, gunmen assassinated the chief prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, as he drove to work from his home in Islamabad. A United Nations investigation into the killing, which was published in 2010, said that senior unnamed army officer had ordered one of those police officers, former Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz, to hose down the scene in the hours after Ms. Bhutto’s assassination.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 27. The presiding judge, Habibur Rehman, accepted Mr. Musharraf’s request that he not be required to appear personally. The car in which Ms. Bhutto died was also cleaned out, destroying its evidential value.
“The police deliberately botched the investigation into Bhutto’s assassination,” wrote Heraldo Muñoz, a Chilean diplomat who led the U.N. investigation, in an article published this week.
The Pakistani investigation has also been hampered by political lethargy and several unexplained killings. Although Ms. Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, became president of Pakistan in 2008, he never showed much enthusiasm for the investigation. In 2008, Ms. Bhutto’s chief bodyguard, Khalid Shahenshah, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.
And in May the chief prosecutor in the case, Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, was gunned down in his car as he drove to work in Islamabad.
For his part, Mr. Musharraf also has major security concerns. The Pakistani Taliban have issued repeated death threats against him since his return to Pakistan. A previous court hearing, scheduled for Aug. 6, was postponed over fears for his life.
Now, the next hearing in the Bhutto case is scheduled for Aug. 27. The presiding judge, Habibur Rehman, accepted Mr. Musharraf’s request that he not be required to appear personally.
As he waits, the once powerful leader may draw cold comfort from Mr. Muñoz, the U.N. diplomat, whose forthcoming book “Getting Away with Murder” concludes that, despite her e-mail to the contrary, Ms. Bhutto probably did not believe that Mr. Musharraf wanted to kill her – “only that some people around him did.”

Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, and Declan Walsh from London.

Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, and Declan Walsh from London.