ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday he was willing to testify in a high treason case against him, if investigators travel to Dubai, where he is hospitalized.
Musharraf said in a video message from his hospital bed that a special commission investigating his case “can come here (Dubai).” “I can give them a statement,” he said, “they can come and hear me, see my (health) condition and then decide.”
He added the commission can record his statement to brief the court.
Musharraf, 76, is living in Dubai in self-exile. He has been hospitalized since Monday.
“Musharraf is seriously ill and still hospitalized,” Mehrene Adam Malik, the secretary general of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) told Arab News on Wednesday.
“Because of health issues he cannot travel, but is willing to record his statement in front of the court-appointed commission. Musharraf’s point of view must be heard on humanitarian grounds as he cannot travel,” Malik said, adding “there shouldn’t be one-sided verdict.”
Musharraf complained in the video message that his point of view was not being heard and maintained that the high treason case against him was “baseless” as he had served Pakistan for almost a decade.
“Even my lawyer Salman Safdar is not being heard by the court,” he said, claiming that the lawyer “was being treated unjustly.”
The former military ruler has been charged with subverting the constitution and imposing a state of emergency on Nov. 3, 2007, when he was in power.
A special court on Nov. 19 concluded its trial proceedings and wanted to announce a verdict on Nov. 28, but on Nov. 27 the Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped the process.
The high treason case was filed against Musharraf in 2013 by the then ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The general was formally indicted in March 2014.
Musharraf became Pakistan’s first army chief to be charged with treason. He pleaded not guilty and dismissed the charges as being politically motivated.
High treason is punishable by death or life imprisonment under Pakistani law.
Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup on Oct. 12, 1999, when he was serving as the army chief. He stepped down in 2008, amid mass protests. He was later allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 for health reasons.
Musharraf says ready to testify from hospital bed
Musharraf says ready to testify from hospital bed
- 76-year-old former military ruler is facing high treason charges in Pakistani courts
- In a video message, invites court rep to record his statement from hospital in Dubai
Pakistani sculptor turns scrap into colossal metal artworks
- Self-taught Islamabad artist Ehtisham Jadoon builds 14-foot metal sculptures using more than 90 percent discarded vehicle parts
- Former martial artist scours scrapyards weekly, transforming scrap into giant beasts and ‘Transformers’-inspired figures
ISLAMABAD: Sparks fly and metal groans in a cavernous workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad, where Pakistani artist Ehtisham Jadoon fuses discarded car parts into colossal pieces inspired by “Transformers” movies and dinosaurs.
The 35-year-old sculptor’s studio brims with cogs, chains, hubcaps and engine parts as his hulking creations — a lion with a mane of twisted steel, a giant Tyrannosaurus rex and a towering Optimus Prime — take shape.
“I have always been fascinated by metal objects,” Jadoon told AFP after assembling the 14-foot (4-meter) “Transformers” character, his biggest creation yet.
“When I see metals in scrap, I imagine forms in which it could be utilized.”
It took Jadoon and his team months of welding and warping to fashion his Optimus Prime, with over 90 percent of its parts sourced from discarded vehicle pieces.
The arms are forged from motorbike springs and gears, its shoulders are curve from car rims, the spine is molded from a fuel tank and its knees are pieced together with chains and suspension parts.
Even its piercing eyes are crafted from vehicle bearings, completing a sculpture that is both intricate and awesome.
“Whenever I see an object, I visualize a form,” Jadoon said.
“I could imagine a block transforming into a shape, so I simply solve the puzzle and bring it to life.”
‘Waste becomes valuable’
Jadoon, a former martial artist who once worked in the steel fabrication business, has never formally studied art. He designs his gargantuan models spontaneously while working.
He told AFP he has to visit a doctor almost every week due to sparks affecting his eyes and burns on his hands and arms, yet he insists this is the only work in which he can channel the energy of his training as a fighter.
Jadoon’s work primarily focuses on crafting giants, beasts and powerful forms, which he describes as a reflection of aggression.
“Setting the anatomy and proportions requires visualization from multiple angles and repeated adjustments,” he said.
Every week, Jadoon tours scrapyards in Islamabad, sifting through tons of discarded metal in search of pieces that fit into his imagination and then become sculptures.
“What is waste to us became something valuable in his hands,” scrapyard owner Bostan Khan told AFP.
“It’s incredible to witness.”
