ISLAMABAD: A three-member special court constituted for the high treason trial of Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday ordered to produce the former president before it tomorrow.
In its short order, the special court headed by Justice Faisal Arab and comprising Justice Tahira Safdar and Justice Yawar Ali declared that if Pervez Musharraf did not appear on Thursday‚ the court would be compelled to order his arrest despite the fact that it had no intention to arrest him being former president of the country.
During the course of proceedings, the counsel of Musharraf, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, said that his client could not appear before the court today due to security threats.
Kasuri informed the court that a kilogram of explosive material was recovered and defused near Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse residence.
The counsel of Musharraf said that the judiciary would be responsible if any untoward incident took place, adding that if a bombing occurred, everyone, including the judges of the special court, would be killed as a result.
In response, Justice Faisal Arab cautioned Kasuri to not threaten the court, adding that the counsel’s point had been noted.
Justice Faisal further said the court could not stop its proceedings on account of security concerns.
Earlier, an application was filed in the special court by the counsels of former president, asking the court to exempt their client from appearing before it in the treason case, citing threats to his life.
In another application, Musharraf’s legal team also requested the court to adjourn the case for a period of five weeks, alleging that the federal government had failed to put adequate security measures in place for the former president.
The application added that Musharraf had called for the November 3, 2007 emergency in his capacity as the country’s military chief, adding that he could only be tried by a military court in that respect as opposed to by the special court as it had been formed.
Top security arrangements had been made for Musharraf’s scheduled appearance before the special court.
