Pakistani court dismisses Musharraf’s plea to adjourn high treason case

ISLAMABAD: A special court on Wednesday rejected a plea by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf to adjourn hearings in a high treason case against him on account of ill health. 
The retired general, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, is accused of unlawfully suspending the constitution and instituting emergency rule in 2007 at a time when he was in power.
Musharraf denies the charges. He stepped down from power in 2008 amid mass protests and was indicted for high treason in March 2014. In 2016, he was allowed to leave Pakistan for health reasons that his lawyer argued prevented him from standing trial on treason and other charges. 
Earlier this month, media reported that Musharraf was critically ill and had been hospitalized in Dubai. 
“Musharraf is seriously ill and cannot even walk,” Mehrene Adam Malik, the secretary general of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party, said in a message to the media on Wednesday, adding that doctors had advised the retired military official not to travel. “He will come back to Pakistan as soon as his health settles down.”
In March this year, Supreme Court Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had said Musharraf would lose his right of defense in the treason case if he did not appear before a special court on May 2. Musharraf missed that hearing, which was adjourned until after Ramadan, which ended on June 5.