Musharraf free to travel
June 12, 2014
Thursday's ruling would allow Musharraf to leave Pakistan, where he faces treason and murder charges stemming from his tenure as president. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Musharraf has previously asked Islamabad to lift the travel ban so that he could visit his ageing mother in Dubai. But the government rejected the former president's request. The court order goes into effect in 15 days, giving Islamabad time to appeal the decision to lift the travel ban.
Musharraf came to power in 1999 after ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a military coup. The former general was ultimately forced to resign in 2008 under threat of impeachment and went into exile in London. He returned to Pakistan in March of 2013 to run in the country's general elections, but was arrested and put under house arrest.
Sharif won those elections and now leads Pakistan's current center-right government.
The treason charges against Musharraf stem from his decision in 2007 to impose emergency rule, in which he suspended Pakistan's constitution and fired the chief justice of the Supreme Court. He also faces murder charges over the death of Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in December 2007.
slk/hc (AFP, dpa)