The Punjab government will be held responsible if anything happens to former military strongman Pervez Musharraf, All Pakistan Muslim League's (APML) spokesperson Dr Muhammad Amjad said on Sunday. He complained that Adiala jail officials had barred Musharraf's lawyers, including Raja Ibrahim Satti, and family members from meeting him at his five-acre farmhouse in Chak Shahzad.
Musharraf's farmhouse was recently declared a sub-jail. According to him, all private security guards deployed at the farmhouse had also been removed and all communication facilities provided to General Pervez Musharraf (retd) had been disconnected. Dr Amjad said the food provided to Musharraf was not being checked and that the Punjab government would be responsible if any untoward incident occurred. "Pervez Musharraf is not allowed to watch TV. His lawyers, relatives and friends are also not allowed to meet him," he regretted.
According to him, Musharraf had been confined to just two-rooms. Civilians had been prohibited from visiting a large area around the residence of the former military ruler and the surrounding locality was under strict security watch. A court had issued warrants for Musharraf's arrest in the judges' detention case in December last year when the former military ruler was abroad in a self-imposed exile. He had sought protective bail in a number of cases against him which were granted by the Sindh High Court (SHC) on March 22, a couple of days prior to his arrival in Pakistan. His bail plea was cancelled on April 18 by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui - a judge who had served as counsel for Lal Masjid cleric in a case filed against Musharraf for the 2007 operation -in the judges' detention case.