Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf issued a statement on Sunday saying that he would return to Pakistan to face trial, as soon as he was medically fit. It was reported that on Thursday the former military leader had been labeled a fugitive by a Pakistani court in connection with the 2007 assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

At the same time, five men who were accused of being involved in the assassination had been acquitted which singled out Musharraf. Pakistan has been "featured" in America's legislative approach this year, such as being targeted by Sen.

Ted Poe (R-TX) to declare Pakistan a state-sponsor of terrorism. President Trump recently decided to pressure Pakistan over the battle in Afghanistan, which reportedly triggered Russia and China to put up their defenses.

Absconded, reaction to Musharraf's self-imposed exile

The charge is connected with the accusation that Musharraf was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Bhutto before elections. Musharraf has been in self-imposed exile from his country since 2013. Musharraf's self-imposed exile began when he was charged with murder, the facilitation and the criminal conspiracy of murder in the same year. It was reported that he had originally exiled himself to London.

It was not until 2016 that Pakistan lifted his ban so he could travel freely before Musharraf reportedly self-exiled himself to Dubai citing health reasons.

The Rawalpindi court that ruled against Musharraf declared last week that he had absconded and ordered that his property be confiscated. In Musharraf's statement, he said claimed that he was not on trial and that the effort was politically motivated.

Musharraf's fight with Pakistan

So far only two police officers who the authorities determined had tampered with evidence following Bhutto's death have been convicted.

The five men who were recently acquitted are still in jail after ten years, but there is no information as to when they could be released. The five men were said to be members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, a terrorist group that dominates the region. Their acquittal would not help Pakistan's case against the accusation from the U.S.

that Pakistan sponsors terrorism.

But Musharraf's problems with the Pakistani courts started in 2008 with his impeachment as President when his political opposition made the case that he had the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Sharif, arrested when he seized power in 1999. Since then, the courts have charged him with treason for declaring a state of emergency in 2007, suspended the Constitution and had Chief Justice of the Supreme Court arrested. Musharraf tried to return to politics again in 2013 for the election but was disqualified from participating.

Accused of assassinations

Since 2013, the courts have accused Musharraf of masterminding the assassinations of Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti.

It's been reported that declaring Musharraf a fugitive and having his property seized brings closure to the cases against the former Pakistani president. The declaration by the Anti Terrorism Court was still not enough for the Bhutto family. They have publicly said that Musharraf is hiding out in plain sight, even showing up on television regularly as he does with the BOL Network. In many cases with fugitives, there is an effort to pass borders to make arrests.

Dubai is largely seen as a safe haven for a wide spectrum of criminals. Thus far, there is no information to suggest that Pakistan is looking to have Pervez Musharraf extradited of that there is even an extradition treaty between Pakistan and Dubai. The United Nations had already said that Musharraf did not provide plenty of protection for Bhutto when she was campaigning.
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