Dire straits: Court refuses to adjourn Musharraf case hearing
Will take up today his request for medical treatment abroad.
Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The special court hearing the treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf refused to adjourn the hearing after his legal team requested that he be exempted from appearing in court.
The retired general should be allowed to proceed abroad for treatment from a doctor of his choice in the United States, they pleaded.
“It is prayed in the interest of justice and on humanitarian consideration,” said a written application bearing the signatures of Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada and Anwar Mansoor Khan, two senior members of Musharraf’s legal team. The court will take up this application on Friday.
The application stated that Musharraf is seriously unwell and requested treatment from his doctor, Dr Arjumand Hashmi, based in the US.
Meanwhile, public prosecutor Akram Sheikh argued against the adjournment of the hearing on grounds of the accused’s illness.
He added that Dr Hashmi, Musharraf’s cousin, is currently in Pakistan and can therefore treat the patient within the country.
Sheikh argued that an ECG and angiography is routinely conducted within 48 to 72 hours in critical cases. However, no ECG has been carried out in Musharraf’s case even after 28 days. According to British medical standards, he added, high risk patients’ enzymes and angiography are conducted within hours – the same procedure is followed in Pakistan.
If the patient could remain in hospital for three days without treatment while complaining of a heart attack, why were the necessary tests not conducted, he asked.
Sheikh added that while the former president did not wish to come to court, which involves a 15-minute travel from his current location, how could he feel able to travel 18 hours to seek medical treatment in the US?
He also said an angiography, not a treatment but a diagnostic test, had not been conducted on the patient due to his refusal, thereby calling into question Musharraf’s medical report as it does not include the relevant test results.
He requested that the medical report be submitted with an affidavit and relevant documents. He complained that as Musharraf is conducting meetings at the AFIC, movement in the ward has been impeded.
Justice Faisal Arab remarked that AFIC’s doctors’ good faith must not be suspected, saying the court would collect evidence in the matter. Justice Faisal also queried if the AFIC is certified by the International Standard Organisation and was informed by the prosecutor that it is.
Sheikh said the Peshawar High Court had already declared that a doctor’s report could not be approved without attestation, suggesting that the court should constitute a new medical board to examine the patient. He also suggested the import of medical machinery required to treat Musharraf.
Rana Ijaz, one of Musharraf’s lawyers, alleged that two judges on the bench were biased and should therefore recuse themselves. Justice Faisal censured Ijaz, saying he should use ‘decent language’. Ijaz informed the court that Musharraf’s review petition against the Supreme Court’s (SC) July 31, 2009 judgment and his legal team is therefore occupied. He pleaded that the special court proceedings therefore be deferred. The request was denied.
The hearing will resume today.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2014.
The special court hearing the treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf refused to adjourn the hearing after his legal team requested that he be exempted from appearing in court.
The retired general should be allowed to proceed abroad for treatment from a doctor of his choice in the United States, they pleaded.
“It is prayed in the interest of justice and on humanitarian consideration,” said a written application bearing the signatures of Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada and Anwar Mansoor Khan, two senior members of Musharraf’s legal team. The court will take up this application on Friday.
The application stated that Musharraf is seriously unwell and requested treatment from his doctor, Dr Arjumand Hashmi, based in the US.
Meanwhile, public prosecutor Akram Sheikh argued against the adjournment of the hearing on grounds of the accused’s illness.
He added that Dr Hashmi, Musharraf’s cousin, is currently in Pakistan and can therefore treat the patient within the country.
Sheikh argued that an ECG and angiography is routinely conducted within 48 to 72 hours in critical cases. However, no ECG has been carried out in Musharraf’s case even after 28 days. According to British medical standards, he added, high risk patients’ enzymes and angiography are conducted within hours – the same procedure is followed in Pakistan.
If the patient could remain in hospital for three days without treatment while complaining of a heart attack, why were the necessary tests not conducted, he asked.
Sheikh added that while the former president did not wish to come to court, which involves a 15-minute travel from his current location, how could he feel able to travel 18 hours to seek medical treatment in the US?
He also said an angiography, not a treatment but a diagnostic test, had not been conducted on the patient due to his refusal, thereby calling into question Musharraf’s medical report as it does not include the relevant test results.
He requested that the medical report be submitted with an affidavit and relevant documents. He complained that as Musharraf is conducting meetings at the AFIC, movement in the ward has been impeded.
Justice Faisal Arab remarked that AFIC’s doctors’ good faith must not be suspected, saying the court would collect evidence in the matter. Justice Faisal also queried if the AFIC is certified by the International Standard Organisation and was informed by the prosecutor that it is.
Sheikh said the Peshawar High Court had already declared that a doctor’s report could not be approved without attestation, suggesting that the court should constitute a new medical board to examine the patient. He also suggested the import of medical machinery required to treat Musharraf.
Rana Ijaz, one of Musharraf’s lawyers, alleged that two judges on the bench were biased and should therefore recuse themselves. Justice Faisal censured Ijaz, saying he should use ‘decent language’. Ijaz informed the court that Musharraf’s review petition against the Supreme Court’s (SC) July 31, 2009 judgment and his legal team is therefore occupied. He pleaded that the special court proceedings therefore be deferred. The request was denied.
The hearing will resume today.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2014.