ISLAMABAD: The former military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, should be tried for high treason, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said yesterday, raising the prospect of a serious clash between the civilian and military masters.
A treason trial would mark the first time in Pakistan’s history that a military ruler has been held accountable and the decision was cheered by many who believe the overweening army needs to accept the primacy of elected politicians.
The announcement by Sharif ended months of speculation over whether the government would dare take on an ex-president and ex-army chief who could face the death penalty if found guilty of overturning the constitution.
Only the government is able to try someone for treason, for which a special court will have to be established.
Although Musharraf is under house arrest and has negligible support, observers have long claimed the powerful military elite would never allow one of its former chiefs to be tried by a civilian court.
“Musharraf is more popular in the army than Kayani,” said lawyer Chaudry Faisal Fareed, referring to current army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
He said Sharif risked “opening a Pandora’s Box” if the trial expanded to drag in other top officers.
Musharraf’s actions amounted to “high treason”, Sharif told parliament, promising that the ex-dictator had to “answer for all his deeds in court”.
“The prime minister is under oath to protect, preserve and defend the constitution and it is implicit in his oath that his government ensures that people guilty of acts under Article 6 are brought to justice,” he said.
The attorney general said the government would bring treason charges against Musharraf for imposing emergency rule in 2007.
Musharraf’s spokesman said the government was “demonstrating recklessness in its intention to pursue unwarranted treason charges”.
“The people of Pakistan will not tolerate this circus, primarily meant to create a diversion. It is taking focus away from addressing serious challenges faced by the nation and can result in unnecessary tension among various pillars of state and possibly destabilise the country.”
The development adds to legal troubles Musharraf attracted since his ill-judged decision to return from self-imposed exile in March to contest election.
Apparently deluded about the scale of his popularity he said he judged from the number of his Facebook friends, he did not receive the mass welcoming he had hoped for. Election officials snuffed out any hope that he might make a political comeback when he was banned from standing in the May election.
Private prosecutions were brought against him for his alleged role in the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the killing of a prominent tribal separatist leader in 2006 and the detention of senior judges in 2007 during the tail end of his presidency.
In the view of many lawyers, Musharraf is likely to be successful in defending himself against these charges, but treason charges are “an open and shut case”, according to Fareed.
Talat Masood, a retired army officer, said a trial was inevitable given that Musharraf had alienated two most powerful men: Sharif he toppled in a 1999 coup and Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the activist chief justice who was the object of the then-president’s battle against senior judges in 2007.
“It’s a gamble, no doubt about it,” said Masood. “Sharif is taking a certain element of risk because the fight against militancy is the greatest challenge Pakistan faces and he needs the military for that.” Some have detected army meddling in the issue, including the attack on lawyers by Musharraf supporters outside a court hearing in April.
In May, a senior lawyer involved in the investigation into the killing of Bhutto, in which Musharraf had been accused of complicity, was shot dead as he drove to work in Islamabad. Many assume that even if the trial goes ahead, a political deal will be hatched to spare Musharraf’s life, or allow him to live out his days in exile.
One possible scenario might see the intervention of Saudi Arabia, one of Pakistan’s closest allies. Such an outcome would be rich in irony given that Sharif was given exile in the kingdom after he was deposed.
Akhtar Hussain, a former vice-president of the bar association, said it was likely Musharraf would receive a presidential pardon after a legal process likely to stretch into 2014 and beyond. “The key thing is the initiation of the trial, which is very important for the standing of democratic institutions. The result, whether acquitted or pardoned is a different matter.” The Guardian
