As it happened: Anatomy of a walkout
From the court to Chak Shahzad, Musharraf encountered no resistance.
Supporters of APML chant slogans against the court’s decision. PHOTO: WIRES
ISLAMABAD:
Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf barely broke a sweat as he walks out of the Islamabad High Court courtroom after a judge ordered his arrest for dismissing judges when he imposed emergency rule in 2007.
Immediately after Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered his arrest, a group of people formed a protective shield around Musharraf and escorted him to the parking lot, where a bulletproof black SUV was waiting to speed him off to his posh villa on the edge of Islamabad.
The IHC premises were packed with Rangers and police personnel, but he faced no resistance, leaving angry lawyers chanting slogans against him.
Musharraf opted for a corner seat in the courtroom, at some distance from the judge presiding over the case, hoping to get his pre-arrest bail extended in the judges’ dismissal case, but by evening he was cornered in his sprawling villa with nowhere else to go.
Wearing a shalwar qameez, Musharraf arrived at IHC at about 9:29am, six minutes before Justice Siddiqui, who himself spent 17 days in Bahawalpur jail along with other judges who were dismissed by the former president.
The retired army chief appeared in court for a favourable decision, but this time around the court stumped him.
Inside the courtroom there were several plain-clothed officials – whose identities perhaps cannot be determined – who were keeping an eye on Musharraf and on those who were watching him.
Once the proceedings started and the lawyers started presenting arguments for and against Musharraf, he did not take long to guess what was going to unfold like everyone else present in the room.
He remained glued to his seat throughout, but his legal representative Advocate Qamar Afzal went to him at least two times for consultation.
At one point, a member of the prosecution team, Advocate Sardar Asmatullah Khan, former president of the Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, approached the rostrum, pointed his finger at Musharraf and angrily said: “I had been put behind bars because of this man and his bail plea should be rejected.”
But Justice Siddiqui reprimanded Khan and reminded him the decorum of the court.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2013.
Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf barely broke a sweat as he walks out of the Islamabad High Court courtroom after a judge ordered his arrest for dismissing judges when he imposed emergency rule in 2007.
Immediately after Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered his arrest, a group of people formed a protective shield around Musharraf and escorted him to the parking lot, where a bulletproof black SUV was waiting to speed him off to his posh villa on the edge of Islamabad.
The IHC premises were packed with Rangers and police personnel, but he faced no resistance, leaving angry lawyers chanting slogans against him.
Musharraf opted for a corner seat in the courtroom, at some distance from the judge presiding over the case, hoping to get his pre-arrest bail extended in the judges’ dismissal case, but by evening he was cornered in his sprawling villa with nowhere else to go.
Wearing a shalwar qameez, Musharraf arrived at IHC at about 9:29am, six minutes before Justice Siddiqui, who himself spent 17 days in Bahawalpur jail along with other judges who were dismissed by the former president.
The retired army chief appeared in court for a favourable decision, but this time around the court stumped him.
Inside the courtroom there were several plain-clothed officials – whose identities perhaps cannot be determined – who were keeping an eye on Musharraf and on those who were watching him.
Once the proceedings started and the lawyers started presenting arguments for and against Musharraf, he did not take long to guess what was going to unfold like everyone else present in the room.
He remained glued to his seat throughout, but his legal representative Advocate Qamar Afzal went to him at least two times for consultation.
At one point, a member of the prosecution team, Advocate Sardar Asmatullah Khan, former president of the Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, approached the rostrum, pointed his finger at Musharraf and angrily said: “I had been put behind bars because of this man and his bail plea should be rejected.”
But Justice Siddiqui reprimanded Khan and reminded him the decorum of the court.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2013.