Musharraf should be arrested upon arrival: Senator

Senator Raza Rabbani says ex-president Pervez Musharraf should be tried for treason charges.

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Senator Raza Rabbani advised the government on Wednesday to arrest former president Pervez Musharraf on his arrival to Pakistan and try him for treason charges under Article 6 of the Constitution.

“Musharraf should be put into jail immediately as he lands in Pakistan. We [lawmakers] want implementation on the resolution unanimously passed by this house,” the senator said.

Speaking on floor of the house, Senator Rabbani said as Musharraf makes his decision to return to Pakistan, the government should act against him on holding the Constitution in abeyance twice.

The Senate had unanimously adopted a resolution on January 23, 2012 demanding the arrest of the former president upon his arrival, he recalled.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik spoke before the Senate: “I assure this house that if he lands in Pakistan, he will be arrested because he is a proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.”

Musharraf will return home on March 24 after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Dubai, his press aide said on Tuesday, in time to take part in a parliamentary election.