Special Court resumes treason case hearing against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: The Special Court has resumed the hearing of high treason case against former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf after the interval of two weeks on Tuesday, Geo News reported.

A three-member special court headed by Justice Faisal Arab and consisting of Justice Tahira Safdar and Justice Yawar Ali Khan is hearing the case against the former dictator in the premises of Federal Shariat Court instead of National Liberary due to security concerns.

During today’s proceedings, Justice Faisal Arab said that Musharraf’s lawyer Anwar Mansoor Advocate had accused Prosecutor Akram Sheikh of being biased, and the verdict in that regard will be announced on April 18.

Musharraf’s lawyer Barrister Farogh Naseem demanded to include all the persons involved in the imposition of November 3 emergency in the trial. He argued that as per the international laws, charges cannot be framed against one accused only.

Barrister Farogh further stated that the investigative report prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was not made public nor it included the details of interrogation from those involved in the implementation of emergency.

He told that the note of dissent by the probe team member, Hussain Asghar, against the FIA report was also not included in the report and requested to disclose the content of the letter.

Earlier on March 31, the court had exempted Musharraf from personal appearance, saying that it could not restrict one’s free movement until the accused was arrested.

Also, the Special Court had indicted Pervez Musharraf on five counts of high treason, a charge that potentially carries death penalty.

The first charge was that Musharraf abrogated the Constitution by slapping emergency on November 3, 2007 and trampled fundamental human rights.

The second charge stated that he introduced illegal amendments to the Constitution between November 20 and December 14, 2007 which was an unconstitutional act.

The third charge was that he issued the PCO illegally, forced the superior court judges to take oath under it and removed those who did not take oath.

The fourth charge was that the accused removed those judges who did not take oath under the PCO and put them under house arrest. The fifth charge was related to the imposition of the November 3, 2007 emergency and holding the Constitution in abeyance.

The accused denied all the charges against him and pleaded not guilty.