Pakistani court to indict former president Musharraf in Benazir murder case

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) of Pakistan Tuesday said that former President Pervez Musharraf would be indicted in Benazir Bhutto murder case on Aug. 6. The former military ruler, who is under house arrest since April, was presented before ATC judge Habib ur Rehman Tuesday morning in Rawalpindi, a sister city of the country's capital Islamabad. The court also summoned the city police officer and superintendent police who were deployed to provide security to Benazir Bhutto when she was murdered. After reviewing the files and analyzing the statements of the police officers, court adjourned the session till Aug. 6 and ordered authorities to produce Musharraf at the next hearing on which he would be indicted in the Benazir's murder case. Following the court session, police took the former president back to his Islamabad residence which has been declared as a sub- jail by local courts. Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was assassinated during Musharraf's rule in a bomb attack when she was leaving for home after addressing an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi. The ATC earlier in 2011 named Musharraf as a suspect in the Benazir's murder case and later declared him as a proclaimed offender in August the same year. The court also ordered authorities to confiscate all his property and freeze his bank accounts as he was living in London and failed to appear before the court despite repeated calls. On Tuesday, the ATC ordered the unfreeze of Musharraf's property and bank accounts after hearing a petition filed by him.