Pakistan’s government plans to put former president Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason for declaring a state of emergency and suspending the constitution while in power, the Pakistani minister of the interior said on Sunday.
Musharraf, a former army chief, would be the first military ruler tried for treason in a country that has experienced three military coups in its 66-year history. He could face the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted of treason, but some question whether the country’s powerful army actually will let that happen. Musharraf has maintained his innocence.
The Pakistani government planned to send a letter to the Pakistani Supreme Court yesterday asking that treason proceedings begin under Article 6 of the constitution, Pakistani Minister of the Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said during a news conference.
The government made its decision after an investigating committee formed under the direction of the Supreme Court collected enough evidence for a trial, Khan said.
“General Musharraf is accountable to the nation and the constitution,” Khan said.
He specifically mentioned Musharraf’s decision to suspend senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and detain them after he declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, 2007.
He was apparently concerned they would challenge his re-election as president.
“The constitution was ruined and violated,” Khan said. “The judiciary was humiliated. Judges were manhandled physically, confined along with family and children.”
One of Musharraf’s spokesmen, Raza Bokhari, lashed out at the government’s decision, saying it was a swipe at the army.
“We not only forcefully reject these charges, but also view them as a vicious attempt to undermine the Pakistan military,” Bokhari said in a statement. “It is also a botched attempt by the government to temporarily take the focus away from existential threats faced by Pakistan.”
Chaudry said that the government’s decision to put the former president on trial for treason was not a personal vendetta by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was toppled in a military coup by Musharraf in 1999.
The government did not indicate it would press charges against Musharraf for his coup, perhaps because the move was retroactively approved by the Supreme Court and parliament at the time.
One of Musharraf’s lawyers, Ilyas Siddiqui, said the former president’s legal team would decide its strategy once the court formally begins proceedings.
The prime minister said in June that the government intended to try Musharraf for treason, but would consult with other political parties on the move. Senior lawmakers from the two main opposition parties expressed their support for the government’s plan to try Musharraf at the time.
Musharraf governed the country for nearly a decade after the 1999 coup, but was forced to step down in 2008 after growing discontent with his rule. He left the country soon after.
He returned to Pakistan in March after years in self-imposed exile, with the hope of running in the national election that was held in May.
However, he was disqualified from participating in the vote because of his actions while in power and has spent most of his time battling legal cases. Musharraf was held under house arrest for months after returning and was only freed earlier this month after he received bail in four other cases facing him.
He is still barred from leaving the country.
The other cases facing Musharraf involve his alleged role in the murder of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the death of a Baluch separatist leader killed by the army, the killing of a radical cleric and the detention of Pakistani judges.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese