Pak court indicts Musharraf; rejects plea to travel abroad

April 1, 2014

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Islamabad, Apr 1: In a double whammy, former dictator Pervez Musharraf was today indicted by a court on five counts of high treason and his plea to travel abroad rejected as he became Pakistan's first ever military ruler to face criminal prosecution that entails death penalty.

Musharraf, who personally appeared in the special court for the second time since proceedings began in December, pleaded "not guilty" to all the charges against him read out by Justice Tahira Safdar of the Balochistan High Court.

The high-profile treason case against the 70-year-old former president is seen as a setback for the country's powerful army that apparently looked like moving to protect Musharraf when he was shifted to a military hospital in early January.

Musharraf is accused of treason for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of superior courts.

If found guilty, he faces the death sentence or life imprisonment.

Reading out from his notes, Musharraf said that he gave 44 years of his life to the Pakistan Army and made defence invincible. He said he gave repute and progress to the country.

"I honour this court and prosecution, I strongly believe in law, I don't have ego problems and I have appeared in court 16 times in this year in Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi," Musharraf said.

"I am being called a traitor, I have been chief of army staff for nine years and I have served this army for 45 years. I have fought two wars and it is treason?," he questioned.

Prosecutor Akram Sheikh in reply said he has never used the word "traitor".

Amid tight security, the three-judge bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court read out the indictment against Musharraf.

Prior to the indictment, Farogh Naseem, a new lawyer in Musharraf's defence team, requested the court to allow the former president to travel to the UAE to meet his 95-year-old ailing mother.

Rejecting his application for seeking permission to travel abroad, the special court ruled that it did not have the powers to do so as it was functioning under a specific law.

Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Musharraf, facing impeachment following elections in 2008, resigned as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai.

The court ruled that it did not put Musharraf's name on the Exit Control List (ECL) and a review can be done by the federal government.

Anybody whose name is on ECL cannot leave the country without permission.

The court said Musharraf is not in its custody and he is a free man.

Postponing the hearing to April 14, the court said he will have to appear before it as and when asked to do so.

However, it ruled that exemption can also be granted on specific days in case of a justifiable reason.

Security measures at the court were beefed up in anticipation of Musharraf's appearance in court, in compliance with an order issued on March 14, demanding his presence enforced or voluntary in the dock.

Musharraf was admitted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), Rawalpindi, on January 2 after he complained of "heart problem" on his way to the court.

Following the hearing, Musharraf was rushed back to the hospital in Rawalpindi accompanied by a security convoy of dozens of vehicles and government-provided security personnel.

The military has ruled Pakistan for about half of its 66-year history and no ruler or top military commander has ever faced criminal prosecution before Musharraf.

Musharraf said the real "ghaddar" (traitor) are those who create hindrances in the country's socio-economic development and those who looted the national exchequer.

Musharraf in his defence said he had spent night with soldiers in Siachen and Kargil.

He proudly claimed to a former member of the Special Services Group whose moto was "ghazi and shaheed" (to kill or be a martyr).

He also listed out the steps that he had taken for the betterment of the country.

While commenting on the indictment of Musharraf, Cabinet Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan made another history.

"For the first time trial against a dictator brought him to face charges in court. It is a victory for all those who refused to bow against dictatorship, struggled and sacrificed to uphold the cause of rule of law in Pakistan," Iqbal said.

Iqbal, in a Facebook message, said Musharraf still showed his contempt for law and cowardice by trying to escape appearances.

"If Mush (Musharraf) had shown courage to appear on first call, he would have saved personal embarrassment and millions of rupees. But if he was so wise, why would he impose emergency in the first place," he said.

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News Network
March 25,2024

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A teenager who led over 100 people to safety during Friday’s terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall, has been hailed as a hero. 15-year-old Islam Khalilov, who worked part-time in one of the cloakrooms at Crocus City, recounted the events of the tragic evening to the Ruptly video agency.

The concert venue situated just outside of Moscow was packed ahead of a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic, when a group of terrorists armed with assault rifles forced their way into the building. They fired indiscriminately at fleeing people and then set the concert hall on fire.

According to the latest estimates, the attack has claimed the lives of at least 137 people, with about 180 injured.

Khalilov told the video agency that “it was when people started running from the escalator, from the stairway” that he realized that an emergency was occurring. The teenager said that he was acting on “instincts” at the time and used his thorough knowledge of the premises to quickly arrange visitors’ evacuation toward another building within the Crocus City complex.

“I started shouting all across the foyer, all across Crocus City Hall - ‘Folks, there’s a shooting! All run to the expo!’ – and I was showing where they had to go and was helping everyone,” he explained.

According to the cloakroom attendant, “there was a stampede, and everyone was in shock at first. No one knew what to do and where to go.”

Khalilov added that he himself was running behind the entire group to make sure he had not left anyone behind.

The teenager admitted to being “really scared” all along, but still managed to make the right use the instructions he’d previously been given on how to evacuate patrons in case of an emergency.

He told Ruptly that, at one point, he had caught a glimpse of one of the terrorists.

“I saw one, [he was] bearded and in green fatigues, he was walking around with an assault rifle,” the teenager recounted.

He also recalled seeing a man getting fatally shot by one of the assailants, adding that he “can’t stop thinking about it.”

The 15-year-old said he doesn’t consider himself a hero, and that he was just doing his job.

Explaining what helped him overcome fear, Khalilov reasoned that “It’s better to sacrifice yourself than to let a hundred people die.”

After Khalilov’s feat had been reported-on by several Russian media outlets, his favorite football club, FC Spartak Moscow, invited him to a meeting where he was presented with free passes to their matches.

Popular Russian rap artist Morgenstern said he had transferred 1,000,000 rubles ($11,000) to the teenager – something that Khalilov has confirmed to media.

The leader of Russia's Muslims, Mufti Ravil Guynutdin, has announced that Khalilov would receive a medal for his bravery.

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News Network
March 28,2024

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Russia says it is "extremely hard to believe" that Daesh could have staged the recent hugely deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall that the country's intelligence and security officials have blamed on Ukraine and its Western backers.

Four gunmen burst into the Russian capital's Crocus City Hall on Friday and began shooting at the people, who were attending an event. The Takfiri terrorist group has allegedly claimed responsibility for the massacre that killed at least 143.

Speaking on Wednesday, however, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cast that claim into serious doubt.

"In order to ward off suspicions from the collective West, they urgently needed to come up with something, so they resorted to ISIS (Daesh), pulled an ace out of their sleeve, and literally a few hours after the terrorist attack, the Anglo-Saxon media began disseminating precisely these versions," she said.

The chief of the Russian internal intelligence (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov has suggested that not only Ukraine, but also the United States and Britain might have been behind the shooting.

The Russian Federal Security Service has also said the gunmen planned to travel to Ukraine, where they were to be welcomed as "heroes." The FSB said Western intelligence services aided the attackers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also suggested that Ukraine stood to derive benefit from the attack and that Kiev might have played a role.

He has said that someone on the Ukrainian side had prepared a "window" for the gunmen to escape across the border before they were captured in western Russia on Friday night.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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Ottawa, Mar 16: An Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were killed in a "suspicious" fire which tore through their home last week in Canada's Ontario province, police said on Friday.

A fire engulfed a home at the Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive area of Brampton on March 7, a press release by the Peel Police said.

After the blaze was put out, investigators located what was believed to be human remains within the gutted house, but the number of people killed couldn't be ascertained at the time.

The charred remains were on Friday identified as those of three family members: 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo; his wife, 47-year-old Shilpa Kotha; and their 16-year-old daughter, Mahek Warikoo.

Police said that they resided at the address before the fire.

Peel police Constable Taryn Young on Friday said the fire had been deemed suspicious, the CTV news channel reported.

"At this time, we are investigating this with our homicide bureau, and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental," the report quoted Young as saying.

"There's not much left to it," Young said when asked about the possible cause of the fire.

"Looking into something like that as a fire marshal, I'm sure it's very tough when there is not much left to look at. But we are exhausting all avenues," she said.

The deceased family's neighbour, Kenneth Yousaf, said that the family had lived on the street for about 15 years, and he never noticed any problems with them.

Yousaf said he was alerted to the fire last week by a family member, who heard a big "bang." "When we came out, the house was on fire. So sad. Within a few hours, everything was down to the ground," the report quoted Yousaf as saying.

In a press release, police said they are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"The circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact Homicide detectives," police said.

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