Does a jail cell await Musharraf?

Former Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf may soon find himself in jail. Pakistan's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik told lawmakers this week that Musharraf would be arrested the moment he sets foot on Pakistani soil. 

KARACHI, PAKISTAN (Catholic Online) - Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan for almost a decade, resigned in 2008 and fled the country amid accusations that he was complicit in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. He seized power in a military coup in 1999. 

Musharraf has pledged that he will return to the country from a self-imposed exile sometime between January 27 and 30. Mushaaraf still has millions of supporters in the country and he has been speaking to them from London and Dubai. He has told supporters that he is accepting the risk of arrest and returning to Pakistan anyway.

"It's not a bed of roses leading Pakistan, governing Pakistan," Musharraf said. "It's a thorny issue.  It's very, very difficult. We are a country of many diversities, and as you said, you have to risk your life and you have to burn midnight oil -- you have to work extremely hard to understand and to deliver. You are risking your comfort and your life."

Musharraf has also said he does not believe he will be arrested. He called Malik's threat, "empty." 
It remains to be seen if the Pakistani government will make good on its threat to arrest Musharraf, but there is evidence to implicate him. In 2010, the United Nations issued a report that found the government had failed to protect Bhutto just before her 2007 assassination. 

Critics of Musharraf also pointed out that the crime scene was rapidly cleaned without allowing enough time for investigators to gather evidence. 

Musharraf is asking the Pakistani people to judge him on his entire record, and not on the last few months of his administration, which was tumultuous. When he departed, he was facing imminent impeachment. 

If Musharraf returns, he will be doing so amid a public controversy which pits the military against the civilian leadership. A controversial memo was recently leaked to the public that purportedly reveals the civilian government asking the United States for assistance in controlling the domestically powerful Pakistani military. 

In the meantime, Pakistan, and possibly a Karachi jail cell, will have to wait and see what happens next.

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