Pakistan’s former military dictator Pervez Musharraf’s first day out in court on Friday, after he returned to the country from self-imposed exile, yielded mixed results. The Sindh High Court in Karachi extended his bail, while restraining him from leaving the country without permission. As he left the court premises amid protests by lawyers, a shoe was hurled at him. Gen (retd.) Musharraf is facing arrest in three high-profile cases: the assassinations of the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, and the former Balochistan Chief Minister, Akbar Bugti; and the illegal confinement of superior judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in 2007 after he declared Emergency.
In the assassination cases, his bail was extended by 21 days, and in the illegal confinement case, by a fortnight.
Last Friday, ahead of his arrival in Karachi after four years of self-imposed exile, his daughter Ayla Raza moved the bail application in all three cases. Bail was granted, and Gen. Musharraf reached home on Sunday.
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