Musharraf Treason Case: Petition in Islamabad HC to Stop Tribunal from Issuing Verdict

Islamabad: The Pakistan government on Monday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court to stop a special tribunal from issuing its verdict in the high treason case involving the ailing former military ruler Pervez Musharraf since he was out of the country.

The petition was filed by the ministry of interior, headed by Brigadier (retired) Ijaz Shah, who was considered very close to Musharraf.

The government asked the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to stop the three-member tribunal from giving its verdict which is expected to be announced on November 28.

If found guilty, Musharraf could be sentenced to death. The petitioner said that since Musharraf was not present in the country, the tribunal should be asked to wait until he got well and came back to face the trial.

According to Pakistani media reports, Musharraf suffers from amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by the build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues in the body, and is under medication

The IHC would hear the petition on Tuesday. The tribunal headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth reserved the judgment on November 19 by announcing that it would be announced on November 28.

The high treason case launched in December 2013 is about the declaration of emergency in the country by Musharraf in 2007 when he was president.

He suspended the Constitution, which according to article 6 of the Constitution was an act of high treason.

Musharraf was indicted in 2014 but the case had made slow progress by the time he was allowed to go out of Pakistan in 2016 for medical treatment in Dubai. He never came back and the case was stalled.

But the Supreme Court earlier this year ordered the tribunal to prosecute him even if he failed to come back.

Separately, the Lahore High Court Monday took up another petition filed last week to stop the tribunal from giving the verdict.

After initial hearing, the court announced that it would decide on Tuesday about the maintainability of the petition. It is for the first time that a military dictator has been tried in Pakistan where four military generals toppled the civilian government.