Former president Pervez Musharraf will not return to Pakistan to comply with an arrest warrant issued by a court about the death of Benazir Bhutto, his spokesman in London, Fawad Chaudhry, said on Saturday. "No, he won't be going back for this hearing," Fawad, spokesman for Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League party, told AFP, adding that the warrant was "totally ridiculous."
A anti-terrorism court earlier on Saturday ordered Musharraf, who is currently in London, to appear for a hearing on February 19 over claims about the death of Benazir in December 2007.
Fawad said he had heard that Musharraf, who was president at the time of her death and stepped down in 2008, was accused of failing to provide adequate security for Benazir. "How can the president of a country be made responsible for the non-provision of security? It's totally ridiculous. You cannot pin criminal responsibility on a president for that," he added.
He accused judiciary of becoming politicised following Musharraf's dismissal of the country's chief justice in 2007, which prompted a constitutional crisis that eventually led to his own resignation. "It is unfortunate that the judges in Pakistan have literally become a political party," he said.
"Pakistan's courts are right now trying to politicise the situation and take on Mr Musharraf after he dismissed the chief justice." Fawad insisted that Musharraf still planned to go back to Pakistan, eventually, to contest elections, and added: "His return to Pakistan will be a political decision."
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