The former president faces five treason charges for imposing emergency rule in the country on November 3, 2007, putting superior court judges under house arrest, and abrogating, subverting and suspending the Constitution by imposing a PCO. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
The landmark treason trial against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf will open on December 24, the day that the former military ruler has been asked to appear before the special court hearing the case.
The three-member court issued the summons 24 hours after the federal government filed an application, requesting that it formally start the trial. The application was filed by Interior Secretary Shahid Ali Khan, the complainant in the case, with the special court registrar, Abdul Ghani Soomro on Thursday. A five-point charge sheet against Musharraf was also attached.
“The special court reviewed the complaint before issuing the summons,” said an official of the interior ministry.
The former president faces five treason charges for imposing emergency rule in the country on November 3, 2007, putting superior court judges under house arrest, and abrogating, subverting and suspending the Constitution by imposing a Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).
The nine-page charge sheet also includes assumption of powers by Musharraf to amend the Constitution.
In light of the inquiry report prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the charge sheet holds Musharraf ‘solely responsible’ for suspending the Constitution. And the government official claimed they have ample evidence against the former military ruler.
The three-judge special court is headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court and has Justice Tahira Safdar of the Balochistan High Court and Justice Yawar Ali of the Lahore High Court as its members.
An interior ministry official said the venue of the trial has been shifted to the National Library from the Federal Shariat Court at the government’s request.
The documentary evidence collected through the ministry of law, justice and human rights, Pakistan Television (PTV), Printing Corporation of Pakistan and the cabinet division include notifications issued of the 2007 Emergency declaration, copies of orders making judges of the superior judiciary dysfunctional, and orders for the appointment of new judges under the Provisional Constitution Order.
“These notifications carry the signatures of former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf and of the then cabinet secretary, Masood Alam Rizvi,” the interior ministry official said.
The government’s evidence explicitly stated that Musharraf unlawfully amended Articles 175, 186-A, 198, 218, 270B and 270C of the Constitution by issuing the Constitution (Amendment) Order, 2007.
Parliament never validated any of the unconstitutional orders and acts of the former dictator and the 18th Amendment purged the 1973 Constitution of all such provisions that were unlawfully added, according to the government’s complaint.
“He (Musharraf) also suspended the fundamental rights enshrined in Articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 25 of the Constitution, subverted the Constitution and thus committed the offence of high treason,” reads the complaint.
The witnesses cited in the complaint include the inquiry officers from the FIA – directors Hussain Asghar and Maqsoodul Hassan and additional director-general Khalid Qureshi – besides Talib Hussain from PTV, Kaleem Shehzad from the cabinet division, and Taj Umer Khan from the law ministry.
The special court has also sent copies of the reference to Musharraf’s legal team. Musharraf denies the existence of any written orders that could be used against him.
Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a member of Musharraf’s legal team, says the government is deliberately hiding para 2 of Article 6. “Para 2 has these three magic words: ‘collaborators, abettors or those who aid’. All the collaborators are guilty of treason,” Kasuri told The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2013.
COMMENTS (13)
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@Ch. Allah Daad: Good one Chaudhry sahab. You want to target Musharraf alone, so we should ignore all those signatories to the 2007 emergency such as the generals, the chief ministers, the governors, and the subsequent supreme and high court judges? And you pretent to be the champion of the constitution? Pure genius of you, except all it shows is your maliciousness, nothing else.
@Shaista: Do you really believe that the missing persons case can be attributed to Musharraf? It has been 6 years since Musharraf left, and the so-called democratic governments took his place. Have the missing persons been produced? Why are you not blaming Zardari and Nawaz Sharif for the missing persons now? Fact is thousands of people go missing every year, many abducted by the militants, some have joined the miltants on their own, and a very few of them have been picked up by the security forces for militant activities just like America picked them up and put them in Guantanamo. Wake up and smell the coffee.
@Ch. Allah Daad: If the Institutional heads and others who had been mentioned in the Proclamation of Emergency Order of 3 Nov 2007,has any respect for the 'Posts they held,the constitution and Pakistan they should voluntarily come forward and state,that it was not his personal decision but a decision of the government/ institutions based on the reports receieved from the concerned departments and the situation prevelant in the country.The SC judges who validated the 'Proclamation', later should also voluntarily come forward and state that the court validated the order as per the legal and the constitutional provisions prevalent in the year 2007.And,that,if 'this decision', is termed as 'treason'', then they are all responsible for it.If this matter is of 'Responsibility and moral courage', only,then all are responsible and not Musharraf alone.In my opinion,it is a matter of the state,its funtionaries and its governance.So it is a collective responsiblility of the government of that time and not a personal matter of the then COAS/ President Musharraf.
Mushaarraf Trial mean some forces already decided for total destruction of Pakistan.
Strange country! Heroes are tried for treason; traitors are honoured!
In any other country where honesty, patriotism, vision, leadership, dignity & sincerity had any worth, this man would have been treated with respect.
One lesson I have learned here... You Do Good for Pakistan, Pakistan put you on Trial You Loot and Plunder Pakistan, Pakistan make you President, Prime Minister & Ministers. What a Country!!!
@Shaista: You seem to be knowledgeable on missing persons. Please indicate number of missing persons during the subsequent "democratic' govts. Also during the "dictatorship'.
nikki: Yes, nothing will happen ,will get liitle punishment incase he is convicted which is very hard. By the way, Pakistani people do not have anything with this case, still people i towns miss him and only media and certian people are auntusiastic.
Lnad mark trial and the benchmark decision:) Take this case normal, nothing will happen even he convicted.
If Musharaf has any respect for his institution, he should take full responsibility without implicating anyone else and leave himself to the mercy of the court. The shorter the trial, better it would be for army and Pakistan. After conviction, he could be pardoned and allowed to leave the country. Purpose of the trial should be to set an example for future adventurers. Enemies of Pakistan will try to prolong this trial with the intention to malign army.
I hope all the prays of those mothers who's children went missing get answered and he face his fate. Ameen.
I hope all the prays of those suffering mothers who got their children went 'misisng' get answered and he faces his well-deserved fate. Ameen