Anti-Terrorism Court Acquits Musharraf in Bugti Murder Case
Ex-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf acquitted in the murder case of Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
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Former President of Paksitan, General Pervez Musharraf, on Monday, was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the murder case of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
The court in Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta acquitted ex-provincial home minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani and Qaumi Watan Party chief and member of National Assembly, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, along with Musharraf.
According to a report by Dawn, Bugti’s lawyer Sohail Rajput will challenge the judgement of Justice Jan Muhammad Gohar.
They should have been convicted and I do not understand why the court set them free. We are not satisfied with this judgement and we will challenge it.
Musharraf, 72, was indicted in the case in January 2015. The court also rejected the request by Jamil to order the exhumation of the body of his father to confirm that the body buried in Dera Bugti was that of Akbar Bugti.
Bugti, former chief minister of Balochistan and head of his tribe, was killed in 2006 in a military operation ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time.
Dera Bugti Violence
In a separate application, Jamil had requested the court to summon the members of a parliamentary committee, who had met Akbar Bugti, following the violence in Dera Bugti in March 2005 in which dozens were killed.
Akbar Bugti’s son Jamil Bugti had named Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Governor of Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, ex-interior minister Sherpao and others for the murder.
Bugti’s killing sparked nationwide protests and further fuelled an armed insurgency that began in 2004 in Balochistan.
Two co-accused – Musharraf’s then interior minister Sherpao and ex-provincial home minister Nusherwan – were also indicted for their alleged role in the murder of Bugti.
Musharraf never appeared in the court during the entire legal process which had been in progress since 2009. He was also absent when the charge-sheet was read out in the court.
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