Karachi: Three Pakistani senators on Thursday said they have received death threats for opposing former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, who is currently on trial for high treason.
Senator Raza Rabbani of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Senator Zahid Khan of Awami National Party (ANP) and Senator Ishaq Dar of ruling Pakistan Muslim League said the threatening letters, which warned that their throats would be slit, came from unknown authors.
Rabbani told journalists in the capital that he got the letter at the parliament house and the names of Khan and Dar were also mentioned in the letter. The letters contained abusive language and they warned the three senators of dire consequences for opposing Musharraf.
Later, the senator also raised the issue in the senate and told the upper house that he was being threatened with kidnapping and having his throat cut off. He, however, refused federal or provincial government security.
Senator Khan in his speech in the senate said that he was not scared of any threat and that the matter should be logically concluded in accordance with Article 6 of the constitution that deals with the matter of treason.
Senator Aitezaz Ahsan, the senior leader of PPP observed that it seemed that the letters might have been written by a supporter or colleague of Pervez Musharraf. He further said that the writer could be traced as the letters were hand written and a calligraphist could help.
Raja Zafrul Haq, the leader of the house in the senate, assured the house that he would bring the matter to the notice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Musharraf, the former military dictator, faces a high treason case under Article 6 of Pakistani constitution. He was implicated in the matter for imposing a state of emergency in the country in 2007, which entailed abrogation of the constitution.
This might be the last legal case against Musharraf as he was already exonerated in several cases including the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a bomb and shooting attacking in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, in 2007, when Musharraf was in power.
