Initiate Musharraf trial from Oct 12, 1999: Ch Shujaat

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Q, President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Monday if there is no other option but to try former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf then his trial should be started from October 12, 1999.

In his media statement at the Senate, Shujaat said rather than using the word ‘treason’ in Pervez Musharraf’s case, a better choice would be ‘violator of Constitution’.

He explained that someone may be accused of treason if he sells his loyalty to an enemy state. “The word ‘treason’ should not be part of the Constitution. It should be replaced with ‘violator of Constitution’,” he maintained.

Chaudhry Shujaat recalled that oaths were also taken from the so-called ‘traitor’ in the recent past.

He said if the treason trial is to be carried out then it should be initiated from October 12. “Even if the trial is to be started from November 3, 2007, it would affect hundreds of individuals including former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and PML-Q leader Pervez Elahi,” he observed.