Summons issued against Musharraf

Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Tuesday issued summons to 18 prosecution witnesses in a judges detention case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

The witnesses, 13 lawyers and three police officials, will start recording their statements before the anti-terrorism court Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi on June 21.

The proceedings will be held at Musharraf’s farmhouse, which was declared a sub-jail in April and where the former president has been under detention since then.

The case is based on a complaint lodged with the police in Islamabad in August 2009 by a lawyer against Musharraf for allegedly sacking and detaining over 60 judges of superior courts after imposing emergency in the country on November 3, 2007.

The case is one of three in anti-terrorism courts in the country against the former ruler who is also accused of involvement in a conspiracy leading to assassination of former prime minister Beanzir Bhutto in 2007, besides facing prosecution over killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in 2006 in Balochistan in a military operation.

The Supreme Court of the country is due to resume on June 24 hearing of a set of petitions seeking prosecution of Musharraf on treason charges over his November 3, 2007 proclamation of emergency, which was withdrawn in the middle of December the same year.

The action was declared unconstitutional and illegal in a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court on July 31, 2009 while Musharraf was living abroad in self-imposed exile. The former president returned to Pakistan on March 24 but was barred from contesting the May 11 general election.

The apex court bench hearing the petitions against Musharraf is expected to ask the new democratic government to apprise it of its stance regarding the plea for registration of a treason case against the former president. Under the country’s constitution only the federal government can initiate such action.

The caretaker government, which handed over power to the new elected government on June 5, had declined to take a position on the issue of treason trial when its stance was sought by the Supreme Court, saying the matter was beyond its limited mandate.

Pakistan’s new attorney general Moneer A. Malik told the media on Monday that he would put the stance of the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before the top court after it resumes hearing of the petitions.