Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was today remanded to judicial custody for a fortnight by an anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani capital, a day after his arrest in a case over the imposition of emergency rule in 2007.
Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi of the anti-terrorism court remanded the 69-year-old former military ruler to judicial custody after hearing arguments by Musharraf’s lawyer and the counsel of several persons who filed petitions against him.
Zaidi briefly reserved his judgment before announcing his decision.
He directed authorities to produce Musharraf in court again on May 4.
During the hearing held at the court complex in Sector F-8 of Islamabad, Musharraf’s lawyer Qamar Afzal told the judge that he was cooperating with police officials investigating the detention of more than 60 judges during the emergency and should be remanded to judicial custody.
Afzal opposed any move to remand Musharraf to police custody, citing security concerns.
He further said Musharraf could approach the Supreme Court to appeal against the revocation of his bail by the Islamabad High Court.
Ashraf Gujjar, the counsel for those who filed petitions against Musharraf, contended he should be remanded to police custody as a fresh investigation would have to be conducted against the former President regarding the imposition of emergency.
The local administration in Islamabad will now decide whether Musharraf should be held at his farmhouse at Chak Shahzad after it is declared a “sub-jail” or at some other secure location.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the court complex after Musharraf’s motorcade of about 14 vehicles arrived there shortly after 10 am.
Musharraf had to wait in his white SUV in the parking lot for over half-an-hour as security forces pushed back a large number of lawyers who had gathered to protest against the former army chief.