Government direct orders needed for Musharraf arrest: Pakistan police

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Without direct orders issued by the Pakistani government, police would not be able to arrest, or even question, former president Pervez Musharraf for keeping the chief justice and other superior court judges in illegal confinement after proclamation of emergency in 2007, the local newspaper DAWN reported Thursday.

Police officers said Wednesday that the former president and yet to be named others in the First Investigation Report (FIR) could not be arrested because of constitutional and legal immunity.

Besides, police are not authorized to approach the affected people (judges) and the others accused to record their statement and investigate the matter because they were senior government officials.

The report said the accused would be approached through the heads of their respective departments.

Police in Islamabad on Tuesday registered a case against Musharraf for illegally detaining top judges during 2007 emergency rule a day after a court called for registration of the case, police said.

Up to 60 judges including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, were sacked and put under house arrest when they refused to show loyalty to Musharraf.

Musharraf was charged under various sections which carry at least three-year jail term, said Liaquat Niazi, Deputy Superintendent of Police at Secretariat Police Station, where the case was registered.

The petitioner said that the former president had put under house arrest the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chuadhry and around 60 judges of highest judiciary and their families when he imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3, 2007.

Investigators have started collecting data, including orders issued during the judges' detention, names of the issuing authorities, and officials who implemented it and who arranged materials like locks and barbed wire.

They said that the 'others' included some officials of police, city administration and interior ministry who were stationed in the capital during the emergency and played the main role in detaining judges.

The Superintendent of Police, City Division, and the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Secretariat, are supervising the investigation, they said, adding that the legal department of police was also involved.

On the other hand, lawyers said that constitutional immunity only protected a sitting president. After vacating the presidency, a person could be arrested and prosecuted, they added.

Similarly, government officials are immune if they perform their official duty legally, but if they exceed their official capacity or misuse their authority, they can be arrested and prosecuted.

The lawyers said a "weak" FIR had been lodged intentionally to protect the accused from a possible high treason case under Article 6.

It may be mentioned here that a complaint had been filed with the Secretariat police regarding the detention of the judges by Advocate Athar Minhallah and by bar presidents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on March 3, 2008.

The lawyers had urged the authorities to register a criminal case against Pervez Musharraf and other officials, including the minister of interior, secretary interior, capital's chief commissioner, inspector general of police, senior superintendent of police and the deputy commissioner.

Musharraf, currently in London, resigned in August 2008 to avoid impeachment by the parliament. On July 31, the Supreme Courtof Pakistan ruled that the former president's decision to impose emergency rule and dismiss dozens of senior judges was unconstitutional.