Special court to announce verdict in Musharraf treason case on Dec 17

ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad hearing a high treason case against Pakistan’s former military ruler General (retired) Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday that it would announce its verdict on Dec 17.
The case has been undergoing court hearing for the past seven years facing multiple adjournments due to Musharraf’s inability to appear before the court.
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court had stopped the special court from pronouncing its verdict on November 27.
Musharraf plans to submit an application in the three-judge special court requesting the bench to form a commission that can record his statement, said his lawyer on Thursday, in a bid to stop the court from announcing its verdict.
“President Musharraf has instructed me to file the application in the court for a commission on the next hearing of the case,” Musharraf’s counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, told Arab News.
The government’s prosecution team in the case sought time from the court to prepare the case and present its argument on the next hearing.
Musharraf seized power in October 1999 by toppling the civilian government of the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in a bloodless coup. He remained in power till 2008.
Sharif had instituted a high treason case against Musharraf when he returned to power again in 2013 for subverting the constitution and imposing a state of emergency in November 2007. The case has been pending since December 2013.
The high treason is punishable by death or life imprisonment under Pakistani law.
Prosecutor Ali Zia Bajwa informed the court that he had received a 3000-page record in the case and it would take him time to go through all the documents before presenting his arguments in the case.
“I want to go through the whole record before pleading the case,” Bajwa said, seeking “reasonable time” from the court to prepare the case.
Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, head of the three-member bench, directed the prosecution team to give their final arguments in the case by December 17.
“We will hear the arguments in the next proceeding and announce the verdict,” Justice Seth said while adjourning the hearing till December 17.
On the other hand, Musharraf’s lawyer said it would be “unfair” if the court announced its verdict in the case “without allowing me time to plead the case to prove my client’s innocence.”
“We hope the court will hear us in the next proceeding and constitute a commission to record General Musharraf’s statement [in the case],” he said.
The ailing 76-year-old former military dictator is living in self-imposed exile in Dubai where he was rushed to the hospital on Monday.
He became Pakistan’s first army chief to be charged with treason, though he has pleaded not guilty and dismissed the charges as politically motivated.
“I have fought wars for Pakistan and served my country for ten years,” Musharraf said on Tuesday in a video message from his hospital bed while terming the case against him as “baseless.”
He said he was being victimized in the case as “even my lawyer Salman Safdar is not being heard by the court.”
“As for me, a commission can come here, I can give them a statement,” he added.