Musharraf presented before anti-terrorism court in Benazir murder case
RAWALPINDI: Amid high security, former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was presented before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi for hearing in the murder case of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto, SAMAA reported.
The former army ruler was brought to the Rawalpindi District Court from his Chak Shahzad farmhouse of Islamabad which is declared sub-jail where he has been confined on 14-day judicial remand.
Musharraf, who is also chief of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), was escorted by security personnel as the court premises were completely cordoned off. He was presented before the judge Habib Urrehman.
The ATC had indicted Musharraf in the case in February 2011, declaring him a proclaimed offender.
Witnesses in the Benazir murder case were presented in the court for today’s hearing.
Dozens of lawyers and supporters of Pervez Musharraf were also present outside the court, chanting slogans against each others.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007 soon after addressing an election campaign rally in the city.
The court later adjourned the case till May 3.
Also, a two-member bench comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain is hearing five identical petitions against Musharraf seeking his trial under Article 6 of the Constitution for imposing emergency and subverting the Constitution in 2007.
On Monday, the caretaker government refused to put Musharraf on trial for treason, telling the court that it was beyond its mandate.
Musharraf returned last month after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to take part in May 11 general elections despite the possibility of arrest on various charges and death threats from the Pakistani Taliban.
Boston bomb suspect charged, could face death
BOSTON: Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told investigators his brother was the leader in last week's deadly attacks, and that no international terrorist groups were behind them, CNN reported.
The network cited an unnamed US government source as saying that "preliminary interviews with Tsarnaev indicate the two brothers fit the classification of self-radicalized jihadists."
"Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, wounded and held in a Boston hospital, has said his brother (Tamerlan, 26) -- who was killed early Friday -- wanted to defend Islam from attack," CNN quoted the source as saying. But the surviving suspect indicated that international groups were not part of the brothers' acts, the report said.
The younger Tsarnaev, 19, could face the death penalty after being charged Monday for his alleged role in the attacks that left three people dead and 200 wounded.
Dzhokar Tsarnaev was arraigned in his hospital bed on charges of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, and malicious destruction of property by means of deadly explosives, the US Department of Justice said.
The charges Monday, a week on from the twin marathon bombings, as Americans marked the time the bombs went off with a moment of silence observed across the nation, from the White House to the New York Stock Exchange.
If Tsarnaev, a naturalized US citizen of Chechen descent, is convicted of the federal charges, he faces time behind bars -- or even the death penalty.
Oil prices down in Asia on weak China data
SINGAPORE: Oil prices eased in Asia on Tuesday as data showing weak Chinese manufacturing activity fuelled concerns over demand in the world's second-largest economy, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June dropped 43 cents to $88.76 a barrel on its first day of trade, while Brent North Sea crude for June shed 34 cents to $100.05 in mid-morning trade.
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