Musharraf treason case: Interior ministry orders FIA to prepare prosecution

ISLAMABAD: Interior ministry has ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to prepare the prosecution for the former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf treason case, Express News reported on Tuesday.

It said that the FIA should do the necessary investigation in accordance with the law.

The interior ministry also advised the investigation officers to do their work completely independently.

Also, the Supreme Court has received all five names it has asked for establishing a three-judge special court to try Musharraf. The Peshawar High Court has suggested the name of senior judge Justice Yahya Afridi, however other suggestions have not been revealed.

Letter

The procedure to prosecute Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf for treason began on November 18 as the Supreme Court accepted a government request to set up a ‘special court’ to try the former military ruler under Article 6 of the 1973 Constitution.

A spokesman for the Supreme Court had announced in a statement that the top court had received a letter from the federal law ministry asking for the establishment of a “special court to try General (retd) Pervez Musharraf under Section 2 of the High Treason Punishment Act” of the Constitution.

After receiving the letter, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had directed the chief justices of all five high courts to put forward the names of any judges eligible for the three-judge special court by Wednesday, the statement added. Out of this list Justice Chaudhry will then choose three names for the special court and forward them to the government.

On November 18, the interior ministry had sent a letter to the federal law ministry regarding Musharraf’s treason case which was then sent to the Supreme Court.

In the letter, the ministry states that Musharraf had violated the constitution by imposing emergency rule in the country in November 2007.

Treason case

The government had requested the Supreme Court yesterday to constitute a ‘special court’ to try former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for high treason.

“Following the judgment of the Supreme Court and a report submitted by an inquiry committee, it has been decided to start proceedings against Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had told a news conference in the federal capital on November 17.

“It is happening for the first time in the history of Pakistan. This case is very sensitive and important and the decision has been taken in the national interest,” he had added.

The move comes after Musharraf was granted bail in other criminal cases against him, including the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, slaying of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti and Lal Masjid siege.

The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), the political party of Pervez Musharraf, had said that the former military ruler will face the charges in the court and prove his innocence. On the other hand, opposition parties had termed the government’s decision to invoke Article 6 against Musharraf a “tactic to divert public attention from sectarian unrest” in Rawalpindi .