Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has challenged US lobbyist Mark Siegel’s allegations on him.
Siegel had said that Musharraf had threatened the late Benazir Bhutto in a phone call made to her while she was planning to return to the country after an eight-year self-imposed exile.
In a petition filed by Barrister Farogh Naseem, Musharraf has asked the Anti-Terrorism Court to declare Siegel’s testimony unlawful.
He said that the testimony was recorded in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as no judicial officer was present while Siegel testified.
He also objected to Farooq H. Naek sitting next to Siegel as his advocate while he testified.
Testimony lacked transparency and did not meet the requirements of the CrPC, the petition further said.
After accepting the petition for hearing, the court deferred Siegel’s cross-examination by Musharraf’s counsel via video link — which was scheduled for 7:30pm today.
While also issuing a notice to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor, ATC adjourned the hearing till Nov 11.
Siegel records a statement against Musharraf
On Oct 1 Siegel had recorded his statement before an ATC , where he had connected Gen Musharraf with Ms Bhutto’s murder. He accused him of deliberately depriving Bhutto of the security detail, despite imminent threats to her life.
He also claimed that Gen Musharraf rejected Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) request to bring foreign security personnel with Bhutto and the request for vehicles with tinted glass.
Musharraf had earlier rejected Siegel’s allegations.
“I strongly and unequivocally reject the claim of Mark Siegel, a close adviser, paid lobbyist and co-author of the last book of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto,” he had said in a statement.
“I am shocked and amazed at Mr Siegel’s assertion that I made a threatening phone call to Ms Bhutto. This claim is entirely false, fictitious and appears to be wilfully fabricated.”
Mark Siegel is the fourth prosecution witness against Gen Musharraf. Two witnesses, former interior secretary Kamal Shah and the former National Crisis Management Cell director general did not support the prosecution’s case. The third witness, former Intelligence Bureau director general Ejaz Shah, was dropped by the prosecution.