Ex-Army chief Raheel Sharif helped me get out of Pakistan: Pervez Musharraf

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has said that former army chief General Raheel Sharif helped him leave the country by keeping the government from pressuring the courts, Pakistani daily the Dawn reported.

Speaking during a talk show on Dunya News on Monday night, the Dawn quoted Musharraf as saying, "Well, he (Raheel Sharif) did help me. I have been his boss and I have been the Army Chief before him. He helped out because the cases are politicised, they put me on the Exit Control List (ECL), they turned it into a political issue."

When asked to explain how Sharif helped him, Musharraf said Sharif played a role in "releasing the pressure" on courts to prevent him from leaving the country.

Musharraf added, "Behind the scenes, the army chief had a role to release that pressure by dealing with the government."

"Once he (Sharif) got the government to relieve the pressure that they were exerting, the courts gave their judgement and allowed me to go abroad for treatment."

General Raheel Sharif was succeeded by Qamar Javed Bajwa as Pakistan’s army chief this November.

Musharraf was able to leave for Dubai in March this year.

The interior ministry issued a notification to remove his name from the exit control list (ECL), following the Pakistani Supreme Court's order to lift the ban on his foreign travel.

Musharraf is facing treason charges in Pakistan for unlawfully suspending the constitution and instituting emergency rule in November 2007, arresting judges and limiting their powers.

But, Musharraf insists he acted within the constitution when he declared a state of emergency in the country and that he did not act alone when taking that decision, the BBC reported. 

Apart from that, he is also being tried in the murders of Benazir Bhutto, Nawab Akbar Bugti and Ghazi Abdul Rasheed.

(WION)