Benazir assassination case: Evidence sent to Interpol for red warrant

Prosecutor claims agency is bound to issue a warrant for Musharraf.

LAHORE:

All legal formalities have been completed by Pakistani authorities with regard to a red warrant being issued for the arrest of self-exiled former president Pervez Musharraf, sources familiar with the development told The Express Tribune.

Earlier, Interpol had sent a questionnaire to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after receiving a request to issue a Red Warrant against the former dictator in the case of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

Sources said that Interpol sought the detail of evidence as well as the Proclamation Orders issued by the respective Pakistani court in the assassination case.

The FIA has now sent a reply to Interpol in this regard with the court order in which the court had declared Musharraf a Proclaimed Offender (PO).

The reply includes summons for his appearance before the court, his arrest warrant, copies of advertisements published in three Pakistani newspapers and one British newspaper, copies of public notices pasted outside Musharraf’s residence and public places and an investigation report along with supporting evidence, sources added.

The concerned officials of the Counter Terrorism Wing of the FIA and a prosecutor in the case told The Express Tribune that all the required information has been sent to Interpol.

Azhar Chaudhry, the prosecutor in the Benazir assassination case, said that after receiving these documents, Interpol is bound to issue a Red Warrant for Musharraf.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2012.