Pervez Musharraf indicted for treason Monday March 31,2014

For the first time, a former chief of army staff and President of Pakistan was indicted by a special court for high treason on Monday March 31,2014 for imposing emergency and subverting the Constitution.

General (retd) Pervez Musharraf pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. 

Justice Faisal Arab who heads the special court asked Justice Tahira Safdar to read out each of the five charges to Musharraf who appeared even before the court time at 9.30 am in a wall of security.

The court had issued non bailable arrest warrants to be executed if he failed to appear today of his own volition.

Justice Arab said the law was clear and under Article 6 of the Constitution the charges have to be read out to the accused. Under Article 6 of the Constitution, "Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason

" The Parliament shall by law provide for the punishment of persons found guilty of high treason. Pervez Musharraf was charged with issuing an unconstitutional and unlawful order on November, 3, 2007 at Rawalpindi as Chief of the Army Staff, called the "Proclamation of Emergency Order, 2007" which held the Constitution in abeyance. He subverted the Constitution and committed the offence of high treason punishable under section 2 of the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973.

Pervez Musharraf has also been charged with issuing the Provisional Constitution Order No.1 of 2007 which empowered the President to amend the Constitution from time to time, apart from suspending Fundamental Rights enshrined in Articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 25 of the Constitution. On the same day he issued an Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2007 whereby an oath was introduced in the Schedule which required a judge to abide by the provisions of the Proclamation of Emergency dated November 3, 2007 and the Provisional Constitutional Order of the same date. This order resulted in the removal of numerous judges of the superior courts including the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Musharraf is also being charged for amending the Constitution and some of its provisions and subverting it.