Musharraf on the run?

[Pedicabby]

Pakistan's Musharraf flees court as judges order his arrest | Reuters

[Doktor]

There is something in politicians that makes them clueless about the time to step down.

This is getting hilarious and sad at the same time.

[Officer of Engineers]

What is sad is that former Army Commandoes can say fuck you to the police and courts.

[IND76]

Coward is on the run.

[Mohan]

He was leaving peaceful retirement life. It was foolish to get back to pakistan. Karma gets back to you in many ways. Mr. Musharraf enjoy your time and you deserve it.

[Firestorm]

This is what the brave commando had said a few days ago

Musharraf "ready to face jail"

And now, Musharraf flees from court premises after arrest order

[lemontree]

He has been arrested as of now.

[Bigfella]

Sounds to me like the man was drinking his own bathwater. Clearly his belief that he would be welcomed as a 'saviour' was at best based on poor intel & at worst just plain delusional. Question that strikes me is this - has Pakistan & its courts changed sufficiently tha ta former officer of Musharraff's standing is no longer immune; or is this simply a case of a guy cut loose by those who might protect him & at the mercy of his enemies?

I'd like to think it was the former, but I'd like to think a lot of stuff that ain't so. Any informed insights welcome.

[Doktor]

I saw that reasoning in few articles, but I can't say I am an optimist. Smells more like the current powers to be are taking political revenge, rather then serious court work.

[troung]

How Pervez Musharraf's story has gone from Facebook fantasy to farce

The Pakistani dictator cast himself as civilian saviour in his own drama. But he forgot someone else was writing the script

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Kamila Shamsie
Kamila Shamsie
The Guardian, Friday 19 April 2013 15.30 EDT
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Former Pakistani president Pervez Mushar
'Anyone who wishes to see democracy strengthened can only wish for Musharraf to be prosecuted – fairly.' Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images

You can usually tell when a drama involving a military dictator reaches its final act. Allies desert him, paranoia subsumes all common sense, he lashes out causing not inconsiderable damage. In the end, the fall from power is inevitable. He's booted off stage so that the life of the nation may continue without him.

So it seemed with President Musharraf when he fled Pakistan for Britain in 2008. But social media have rewritten the old template: people may still argue over precisely what role Twitter played in the Arab spring, but there is no doubt Facebook played a key role in The Dictator's Extra Act. It was only after Pervez Musharraf received hundreds of thousands of "likes" on his Facebook page that he decided to cast himself in the role of civilian saviour and ride back into town just in time to contest the upcoming May elections.

But he overlooked the fact that, while he was the main actor in this drama, someone else was writing the script. First, the masses who had pressed the "like" button on their computers didn't actually turn up to greet him at the airport when he returned. Then the courts disqualified him from standing for elections in all four constituencies in which he'd planned to run. Finally, on Thursday, when he appeared at court for a bail hearing on charges related to his 2007 clash with the judiciary, the judge ordered his arrest – whereupon the former commando swiftly departed the premises with his security detail and holed up in his luxury farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, while his Facebook page was updated to include a petition protesting "the ill-conceived decision of Islamabad high court". At the time of writing the petition has 12,894 signatures – the general is no doubt awaiting responses from the rest of the 877,397 people who "like" his page. So far, so farcical.

But although The General's Return has, as yet, been little more than a sideshow in the runup to elections, the fact that riot police were quickly deployed to Musharraf's farmhouse to protect rather than arrest him raises a far more serious question: one that has to do with impunity and the power of the military.

There's no doubt the chief justice whom Musharraf tried to dismiss in 2007 would like nothing better than to watch due process of law send the general to prison on charges related to the wrongful confinement of judges. But will the military allow its former chief of army staff to be imprisoned for acts carried out while he was in uniform? It is impossible to overstate the significance such an outcome would have in a nation of which it is said, "other countries have an army; in Pakistan, the army has a country". And does the military have the power to stop such a thing from happening?

Certainly, early signs suggested that Musharraf would be treated in a manner quite different to civilian politicians, for whom imprisonment following their fall from power has almost been a rite of passage: just hours after he sped away from the high court Musharraf's farmhouse was declared a "sub jail" and his presence there termed "house arrest". Threats to his life from the Taliban were given as the reason he couldn't be shifted to a regular jail.

On Friday morning he appeared in court again – the police claim to have arrested him overnight, while his threadbare political party insists he gave himself up. He wasn't in handcuffs but even so, the sight of the former head of the army surrounded by the police who had him under arrest was shocking. The judge placed him under judicial remand pending trial for two days, and added clause 780-A, pertaining to terrorism, to the list of charges against him. He's now back under house arrest for the period of judicial remand, and on Sunday he must face charges in the anti-terror court. If this wasn't enough, the senate, on Friday, unanimously passed a resolution calling for his trial under article 6 of the constitution for derailing democracy and abrogating the constitution.

Where will this unexpected act end? Anyone who wishes to see democracy strengthened can only wish for Musharraf to be prosecuted – fairly. But, of course, a dramatist's (or indeed novelist's) dreams might wander in different directions: picture the one-time president general standing for elections and all the political parties withdrawing their candidates so that he's handed a victory by default. Could there be any sweeter revenge against autocracy than to watch a former dictator lumbering around parliament, shunned even by those who must sit with him on the opposition benches, watching as other people make history?

How Pervez Musharraf's story has gone from Facebook fantasy to farce | Kamila Shamsie | Comment is free | The Guardian

Pervez Musharraf: the homesick general

By Rob Crilly World Last updated: April 19th, 2013

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ro...esick-general/

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Barely three weeks before Pakistan's general election, Pervez Musharraf must have imagined himself addressing tens of thousand of supporters and well on his way to a glorious return to power.

Instead, this morning, police arrived to escort the former military dictator to face allegations in court that he illegally detained judges, lawyers and politicians during his last, desperate days in power. It wasn't even the Supreme Court, but a cramped district court. Hardly the proper stage for a man who five years ago was one of the most powerful men in the world, thanks to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

For those of us who stood at Karachi airport last month to watch him return for the first time since leaving office it has all been hugely predictable. The crowd that day was disappointing, to say the least, and what little support he might have had has been overshadowed by the slew of court cases and a series of humiliations, including being barred from all four constituencies where he had hoped to run for the National Assembly.

So why on earth did Mr Musharraf return?

His supporters say he is the sort of strong leader Pakistan needs. Under him, the country took on terrorism and modernised its economy, liberalising the media and building strong international ties.

His Facebook page suggests those memories make him popular – with some 875,000 likes. Not bad for the former leader of a developing country.

Returning also allows him to clear his name, tackling the court cases head on. While he has been out of the country, they say, his opponents have been free to accuse of everything from the murder of Benazir Bhutto to treason. Now he's back, he can clear his name and salvage his reputation.

He and his supporters will have had a rude awakening, however. Updating Facebook from Dubai and London is not the same as taking the temperature inside Pakistan, where a disappointingly small crowd turned out at the airport to greet the returning dictator. To his critics, his return is a sign of arrogance and self-delusion.

He is yesterday's man. A reminder of how the military seized power three times in Pakistan's short history. His election bid is all but doomed. And the court cases have him, from today, confined him under house arrest to the spacious villa he had built a few years ago as a retirement home.

In some ways that may suit him. My own suspicion is that he is less interested in returning to office or clearing his name than simply returning home. He is 69 and for all his faults he remains a military man, who would have been prepared to lay down his life for his country. Maybe growing old in his villa, surrounded by his old comrades, and with a good supply of Johnny Walker and Romeo y Julieta cigars is all he ever really wanted to do.

Which is just as well. It doesn't look like he'll be leaving his house any time soon.

[anil]

The current PA chief ashfaq kayani is musharrafs disciple installed on the throne by the former general himself. That will give you an idea how this will probably end.

[IND76]

The current PA chief ashfaq kayani is musharrafs disciple installed on the throne by the former general himself. That will give you an idea how this will probably end.

You mean he will end up being hanged on a lamp post?

[Doktor]

He is not getting a firing squad, that's for sure.

[anil]

^??? Did my comment give you that message?

The guy is an army man, not a politician. The PA is in control, not the political administration. What makes you think the PA will just watch while the politicians have their way with an army guy?

[Tronic]

This song perfectly describes Musharaf's situation right now.

EDIT: Found one with translated subs;