[JURIST] A Pakistani court on Tuesday granted bail to former president Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] in the case of his 2007 detention of senior judges. The detention came after Musharraf imposed emergency rule in Pakistan. Musharraf, however, must remain under house arrest [AP report] due to an additional case pending against him for the murder of an ethnic Baluch nationalist leader in 2006. He has been held under house arrest at his Islamabad farmhouse since April 19. If Musharraf is also granted bail in his pending murder case, he will no longer be held under house arrest and will then be a free man.

Musharraf has recently been the subject of a host of legal troubles due to alleged unconstitutional and illegal actions that took place after he staged a military coup in 1999. Just last month a Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC) refused to grant Musharraf bail [JURIST report] for his firing of senior judges. In April the Peshawar High Court of Pakistan banned [JURIST report] him from running for public office for the rest of his life and extended his house arrest during the ongoing trial regarding the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [JURIST news archive]. In March Human Rights Watch urged Pakistan [JURIST report] to hold Musharraf accountable for his alleged human rights violations upon his return to the country. Musharraf’s return to Pakistan came after a 4 year self-imposed exile.