ISLAMABAD, Nov 06 (DNA): Former president Pervez Musharraf was freed late Wednesday two days after a court granted him bail in the murder case of the deputy chief of Islamabad’s Red Mosque, who was killed in a military raid in 2007, his lawyer said.Musharraf had already got bails in three cases including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.Additional Session Judge in Islamabad, Wajid Ali, earlier issued written orders for Musharraf’s release after his defence lawyers deposited two surety bonds, each of one hundred thousand rupees.
Musharraf, 70, was formally arrested in the murder case of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the senior cleric of the Red Mosque, on Oct 10, weeks after Ghazi’s son Haroon Rasheed registered the murder charge against him with police in Islamabad.
Police was removed from the Islamabad farmhouse of Musharraf, where he had been detained since April, as the written release order was delivered to the jail officials deployed there. The farmhouse was declared as a sub-jail over security concerns.
Musharraf’s lawyer, Ahmed Reza Kasuri, confirmed to the media that the former President has been set free.
Talking to reporters outside Musharraf’s home, Kasuri denied any deal for the release of Musharraf and said he has been freed through legal process. He said Pervez Musharraf is likely to speak at a news conference on Thursday to chalk out his future strategy.
Dozens of Musharraf’s supporters also arrived at the farmhouse at Chak Shehzad at the edge of Islamabad and chanted slogans in his favor. They also distributed sweet to celebrate Musharraf’s release.
The former military ruler returned to the country in March to run in the May parliamentary polls, however the courts disqualified him for standing in the elections over his sacking of elected government in 1999 and imposing emergency in 2007.
