A Pakistani court has summoned former President Pervez Musharraf and several of his key aides to appear before it on October 7 for the hearing of a petition seeking their trial in the murder of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.
A division bench of the Balochistan High Court has sent notices to Mr. Musharraf, currently in the US for a lecture tour, former premier Shaukat Aziz, former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, former Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and several other persons and directed them to appear before it at the next hearing of the case.
The notices were issued on Friday, reports said on Monday.
Bugti’s son Jamil Akbar Bugti has filed a petition asking the High Court to order the police to register an FIR against Musharraf and his aides for their alleged role in the “murder” of his father.
Jamil filed the petition in the High Court after a similar plea was dismissed by a sessions court.
Bugti was killed with 37 of his followers in a military operation in Dera Bugti district in 2006. Mr. Musharraf had ordered the operation against Bugti, a former Chief Minister of Balochistan and leader of Jamhoori Watan Party.
The new case adds to Mr. Musharraf’s legal woes as police in Islamabad have already registered a case against him for illegally detaining over 60 judges during the 2007 emergency.
The Supreme Court declared the emergency imposed by Mr. Musharraf as unconstitutional and illegal in July. This has raised the possibility of his trial on charges of treason.
