Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf has been formally indicted on murder charges in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

 

　　Bhotto was killed in a suicide attack in December 2007 following an election rally.

 

　　Musharraf, who was president at the time Bhutto was murdered, is rejecting the charges against him, calling them politically-motivated.

 

　　Four witnesses, including an American journalist, have given sworn statements against Musharraf in connection with the charges.

 

　　Musharraf's lawyer, Afsha Adil, says the statements shouldn't be considered evidence.

 

　　"The important thing is this: you will have to prove the allegations, with evidence, and still there is no evidence on record, so we can say the future of President Musharraf is quite clean and neat. These are all fabricated cases. There is nothing solid in all these cases, even Benazir murder case."

 

　　The court decision to indict Musharraf marks the first time a former army chief in Pakistan has been charged with a crime.

 

　　Musharraf was has been in-and-out of jail since returning to Pakistan earlier this year in an effort to try to contest the recent parliamentary elections.

 

　　He's currently under house arrest, and is due back in court next week.