[JURIST] Chaudhry Zulfikar [BBC obituary], chief prosecutor in the criminal case against Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday. Zulfikar had been due to appear [WSJ report] at the High Court in Rawalpindi for a hearing in Musharraf’s case on charges of involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive] in 2007. Zulfikar was leading the investigation into the allegations that Musharraf failed to provide adequate security [JURIST report] to Bhutto when she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile in December of 2007. She was killed at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi later that month.

This is the latest development in the series of charges and legal troubles for Musharraf. Earlier this week the Peshawar High Court of Pakistan banned [JURIST report] Musharraf from running for public office for the rest of his life, as well as extending his house arrest during the ongoing trial regarding the murder of Bhutto. Last week the Pakistani interim government declined [JURIST report] to try Musharraf for treason because they claimed such action would be outside the scope of their duties. In April a Pakistan court extended [JURIST report] Musharraf’s bail on charges of illegally detaining judges. In March, Human Rights Watch urged [JURIST report] Pakistan to hold Musharraf accountable for alleged human rights abuses upon his return to the country. Last year Pakistani authorities pledged to arrest [JURIST report] Musharraf for his alleged involvement in Bhutto’s assassination. In August 2011 a court ordered seizure of his property [JURIST report] and froze his bank account after he failed to respond to multiple subpoenas regarding the assassination investigation.