Home Latest News Sindh High Court Reserves Judgment on Musharraf Travel Ban

Sindh High Court Reserves Judgment on Musharraf Travel Ban

by AFP
Farooq Naeem—AFP

Farooq Naeem—AFP

Former president’s name to remain on exit control list until court renders verdict.

The Sindh High Court on Thursday reserved judgment on former president Pervez Musharraf’s application to have a travel ban on him lifted, his lawyer said.

The 70-year-old, who flew to Karachi last month to undergo medical tests, has been waiting for a decision on his application for over a month. He says he wants the travel ban lifted so he can visit his sick mother in Dubai, but many in Pakistan allege it is a ruse to flee the country and avoid the litany of criminal cases against him dating back to his 1999-2008.

Musharraf was indicted for treason in March over his imposition of emergency rule in 2007. He also faces several murder cases and his name has been added to the official “exit control list” of people barred from leaving Pakistan.

A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court reserved judgment after the hearing on Thursday and gave no indication when they would make a ruling.

Musharraf’s lawyer Farogh Nasim told reporters his client wanted to face justice. “I assured the court that while the legal and constitutional battle will continue, Musharraf will certainly appear before the court if and when summoned after his name is removed from the exit control list and he is allowed to travel abroad,” Nasim said.

Musharraf is staying with his daughter in Karachi where he traveled for tests at a navy-run hospital. He has been receiving medical treatment since January, when he was rushed to hospital after suffering heart problems on his way to court for a hearing.

After his indictment for treason in March, Musharraf asked to be allowed to visit his mother, who is in her 90s, but was denied permission.

The ex-general, who seized power in 1999 and resigned in 2008, has pleaded not guilty to the treason charges. Musharraf is also on bail in three other major cases linked to his time in power, including the 2007 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack and murder of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006.

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