Zee Media Bureau
Islamabad: After six months of being confined to his sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, ex-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf became a free man in Pakistan as prison officials were withdrawn from his home after a judge issued a release order exempting him of the house arrest.
In a big relief to the former dictator, the Additional District and Sessions Judge Wajid Ali issued the release order after Musharraf submitted two surety bonds of Rs 100,000 each a couple of days after he was granted bail in the Lal Masjid case pertaining to murder of cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi and his mother Sahib Khatoon.
After the order was issued, prison officials left Musharraf’s vast Chak Shehzad farmhouse on Wednesday night, making him a free man allowed to move anywhere within Pakistan.
However, Musharraf can’t leave Pakistan, given that his name still features on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Speaking to the reporters outside his farmhouse, Musharaf`s lawyer Ilyas Siddiqui said, "Musharraf is a free man now."
Musharraf’s lawyer said that the former General would approach Sindh High Court over his name on the ECL.
Earlier, Musharraf had already been granted bail in three other cases: the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the Akbar Bugti murder case and the arrest of the country`s senior judiciary in 2007.
