Musharraf’ not likely to appear in court on Jan 16: Kasuri

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf's counsel, Ahmed Raza Kasuri Wednesday said his client's appearance in a special court conducting his treason trial on January 16 was conditional to an improvement in his health.

Talking to Geo News, Ahmad Raza Kasuri said that the doctors have not yet declared Pervez Musharraf to have completely recovered from his illness. He said that Pervez Musharraf could not take mental pressure for his current state of health and added that the doctors were likely to inform about his health by this evening.

Justifying 70-year-old Musharraf's absence from all hearings of the case so far on medical grounds, Kasuri said: "At present, he (Musharraf) is not a normal person and I cannot say exactly if he will appear before the court because he is sick and under observation.

Ahmad Raza Kasuri said that Pervez Musharraf’s exemption from appearance in the court would be sought verbally. He further said that the former president was facing security threats as well.

Last week, the court ordered Musharraf to appear before it on January 16 to face charges of high treason after reviewing a medical report from the Armed Forced Institute of Cardiology (AFIC), where he was admitted with heart problems on January 2.

The medical report did not suggest that Musharraf, in his present state of health, was unable to attend hearings, the three judges of the special court said in an order issued on January 9.

"It is clear that the accused has failed to obey and comply with the order of this court," the order added.

The government set up the court to try the former army chief on charges of treason for imposing emergency in 2007.