Pervez Musharraf indicted for high treason

The special three-bench court constituted to try former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf indicted him for high treason Monday.

Musharraf pleaded not guilty to the high treason charge against him, Dawn online reported.

Justice Faisal Arab, who heads the three-bench court, read out the indictment after the former army strongman arrived at the special court in Islamabad from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in Rawalpindi.

Musharraf's representative Farogh Naseem requested the special court to allow Musharraf to go to Sharjah where his ailing mother is undergoing treatment, but the plea was rejected.

Naseem also said that, for nearly three months Musharraf has been in the AIFC for a severe cardiac condition and his treatment was only possible in the US.

Musharraf was again moved to the AFIC's ICU Saturday after his condition deteriorated upon receiving the news of his mother's illness who is currently hospitalised in Sharjah and is suffering from respiratory complications.

A non-bailable arrest warrant for Musharraf was issued in case he failed to appear before the court Monday.

For his appearance in the special court today, three different routes were chalked out by the capital police before Musharraf's departure from AFIC.

A police squad and commandos reached the AFIC early in the morning to escort Musharraf to the court's premises.

For the former army strongman's security, 3,000 police and Rangers personnel were deployed on the routes.

Musharraf has been charged with high treason for suspending the constitution when he declared Emergency rule in 2007.

He took over in a bloodless coup when he dismissed the government of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.

Musharraf, who resigned in 2008 as president and went into exile, returned to Pakistan in March this year to run in the parliamentary elections. However, a court disqualified him from competing in the general elections in May last year.