‘Emergency’ measures: No abettors show up in evidence, says Sheikh

FIA chief testifies in special court against the former military ruler.

ISLAMABAD:

As the prosecution submitted almost all the documented evidence against former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the scope is limited for the defence team to produce contrary proof, legal experts said on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, a member of the defence team told The Express Tribune that a long list of “abettors” would be submitted before the court following the cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses. He claimed that there are facts that cannot be ignored and now it is on record that Musharraf’s entire team, including the top brass of the armed forces, was on board before the November 3, 2007 emergency rule.

However, prosecutor Akram Sheikh maintained that all documented evidence points only towards Musharraf. If someone approaches the court and records a statement saying that he was also involved in the decision to impose emergency, then that person could be treated as an abettor, he added.

“Only the court or the prosecution can declare someone an abettor and it is an anomaly for the defence team to consider witnesses as abettors. Even if they had a role in the emergency-rule decision, the question remains who will dare to come and record his confessional statement,” commented Khalid Azeem, a senior legal correspondent.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Additional Director and prosecution witness Khalid Rasool testified before the three-judge special court bench in the treason case against Musharraf.

Rasool told the court that the FIA DG on November 19, 2013 included him in the investigation team. He collected all the documents from the law and justice ministry, cabinet division, Printing Corporation of Pakistan and Pakistan Television, and handed them over to the FIA’s head of investigation Khalid Qureshi.

“I didn’t play any other role, except handing over the documents to the investigation team,” Rasool explained.

“This is purely a political case,” said a defence lawyer on the condition of anonymity. “And it can only be won by political means.”

It is easy to establish that there is a personnel enmity between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the accused, he added.

The lawyer also said the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) joint investigation team was not given permission to see the official record in the General Headquarters (GHQ), Rawalpindi.

They even failed to record statements of top army officials who were “partners in crime”, he added. The defence team is also preparing its case that in its present form, Article 6 of the Constitution is not applicable in this case.

Meanwhile, the prosecution finalised the process of presenting written testimonies before the court. The defence lawyer will cross-examine Rasool iat the next hearing on August 5.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.