ISLAMABAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani government asked the Supreme Court on Monday to appoint a three-judge special tribunal to try former president Pervez Musharraf on high treason charges for abrogating the constitution, officials said.
This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a former president will face high treason trial.
The Law Ministry will submit the government request to the top court as the first step to initiate the proceedings.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced on Sunday that the government would formally put the former military ruler on trial on high treason charges for imposing emergency rule in 2007.
Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and suspended the constitution when he declared emergency in 2007.
Legal experts say high treason charges carry death penalty or life imprisonment under Pakistani laws.
The main opposition Pakistan People's Party supported the government move however some other opposition parties criticized the timing of the government's decision. They said the government has started the high treason case to divert attention from other serious problems.
The Interior Minister says that investigators have collected solid evidences against Musharraf and a report will also be submitted to the Supreme Court.
The federal government appointed Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi as special prosecutor in the treason case, officials said.
The Interior Ministry said in a letter that Musharraf violated the constitution by imposing emergency rule in the country in November 2007 and that the government decided to initiate high treason case against him.
This letter, requesting the setup of a tribunal of three high court judges to try Musharraf, will be sent to the Supreme Court by the Law Ministry.
"A trial needs to take place as soon as possible with a special court hearing the case," the letter said.
The case can only proceed after the judges are appointed by the Supreme Court, which had observed in May that the treason case against former military ruler would be heard by a special court.
In June Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that his government would begin high treason trial of Pervez Musharraf in his speech to the National Assembly less than three weeks after his PML-N party won majority in the general elections.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf was freed late Wednesday two days after a court granted him bail in the murder case of the deputy chief of Islamabad's Red Mosque, who was killed in a military raid in 2007, his lawyer said.
Musharraf had already got bails in three cases including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Full story
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Pakistani court on Monday granted bail to former President Pervez Musharraf in the case of a military raid on the militants-affiliated Islamabad Red Mosque during his rule in 2007, which led to the killing of nearly 90 religious students, lawyers said.
Musharraf was formally arrested in the case last month after the son of the deputy of the mosque, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in the military operation, had filed a case against him. Full story
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Saturday that former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, cannot leave the country as his name is included in the list of those who are barred from going abroad.
The comments came amid strong speculations in the Pakistan that Musharraf can leave the country under a deal with the government. Full story
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