Musharraf’s lawyers present threatening letter ‘from Taliban’ in court

Letter states that Kasuri, Pirzada and Mansoor will be killed if they do not separate themselves from the case.

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf’s lawyers presented a threatening letter claimed to be from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the special court on Wednesday, Express News reported.

Musharraf's advocates Ahmed Raza Kasuri, Sharifuddin Pirzada and Anwar Mansoor must separate themselves from the case or they will be killed, the letter allegedly stated.

Rana Ijaz, one of Musharraf’s lawyers, informed the court that he has received credible reports that the special court will be attacked. He stated that it was not just the three-member bench, led by Justice Faisal Arab, that would be targeted, but three of Musharraf's advocates are also in danger.

Justice Arab responded to these reports, stating that they could not halt legal proceedings based on threats. He said that he had spoken to the inspector general and commissioner of Islamabad for around an hour on March 4 and they had assured him that the court is secure.

Kasuri told the court that if anything were to happen to him, he would place blame on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Mansoor revealed that he was stopped at gunpoint by two men in Karachi and he was no longer in the frame of mind to try this case.

The hearing of the case has been adjourned till March 7.

On March 3, two suicide bombers and their armed accomplices had attacked the district courts in Islamabad’s sector F-8 killing 11 people, including an additional sessions judge, and injuring over two dozen others.

TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid had announced that his group was not responsible for the attack.

A little-known militant group called Ahrarul Hind had claimed responsibility for the attack. “I claim responsibility for the Islamabad attack,” the purported spokesperson for the group had told The Express Tribune by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Following the attack, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the incident and ordered the installation of high-resolution closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all district courts.