Special court orders seizure of Musharraf’s assets

Tribunal adjourns hearing until former president is arrested.

ISLAMABAD: A special court hearing treason charges against Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf has ordered the authorities to confiscate the properties and bank accounts of the former military ruler after he failed to appear for a hearing.

Musharraf left Pakistan in March for Dubai to seek medical treatment, shortly after the Supreme Court ordered removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL). He is facing trial on treason and other charges related to his seizure of power as army chief in 1999 in a coup d'etat.

On Tuesday, the three-judge special court, headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, adjourned the hearing of the case until the former army chief was arrested.

On May 5, the court issued a show-cause notice to the joint secretary of the interior ministry for not submitting details of the properties owned by Musharraf.

On Tuesday, when the bench resumed the hearing, Joint Secretary Dilshad Ahmed Babar submitted a list of movable and immovable properties owned by the former military dictator.

The court ordered that the residential properties of Musharraf shall be attached through the sessions judges concerned while his accounts shall be seized through the State Bank of Pakistan. Any person aggrieved by the attachment of the property can file an objection within six months.

The five-page order said the court could not proceed until the accused was arrested or surrendered, and his statement under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was recorded.

During the hearing, prosecution counsel Akram Sheikh requested that the court continue the proceedings under Section 9 of the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act 1976. The trial should be concluded at any cost as per the orders of the Supreme Court, he said, suggesting that Musharraf’s statement be recorded through Skype.

The judges, however, noted the case cannot proceed till Musharraf is brought before the court, observing the entire proceedings under Section 87 of CrPC had declared him a proclaimed offender and arrest warrants had also been issued for him.

In April 2014, the former army chief was formally charged with treason for imposing emergency on November 3, 2007. But the trial met a roadblock when the special court asked the federal government on November 21, 2014 to treat ex-CJP Abdul Hameed Dogar, then prime minister Shaukat Aziz, and then law minister Zahid Hamid as co-accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2016.