An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday set August 6 the date for indicting former president Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir assassination case, besides ordering the de-freezing of his assets.
Musharraf appeared before the court and also signed the copies of the charge sheet that were distributed among all the accused.
The court directed him to appear again, saying that the accused could not be indicted in his absence therefore he needed to make sure that he appeared on the next hearing.
Stringent security measures had been taken with large contingents of police, Elite Force and Rangers personnel being deployed outside the court premises.
The court also issued orders for the restoration of the frozen assets of Musharraf. Earlier, it had reserved its judgement.
During the hearing, Musharraf’s counsel, Ilyas Siddiqui pleaded that his client had not received any court notice in the case while he was abroad. He said Musharraf’s bank accounts and assets had been frozen in his absence.
FIA Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar contended that all legal formalities, including issuing of the legal notice, had been fulfilled prior to the seizing the former president’s bank accounts and properties.
The court ordered that Musharraf’s frozen bank accounts as well as other assets be restore.
It directed police officials to ensure the presence of Musharraf and other accused in the court on August 6 and adjourned the hearing until the date.