ATC orders Musharraf to appear at next hearing

An anti-terrorism court in here that is hearing the judges' detention case against former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, Friday ordered him to appear in person at its next hearing April 25.

The ATC has directed Musharraf's guarantors to make sure of the former army strongman's presence in its next hearing, Dawn online reported.

Musharraf's lawyer presented Musharraf's medical report and said that he could not appear in court for Friday's hearing due to security reasons to which the ATC, accepting the application, adjourned the case till April 25.

The judges' detention case is based on an FIR filed against Musharraf in August 2009 on the complaint of advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman.

He had asked the police to initiate legal proceedings against Musharraf for detaining over 60 judges, including then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after proclamation of a state of emergency in the country Nov 3, 2007.

Musharraf was indicted Monday on charges of high treason. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The former president 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 last year to run in the parliamentary elections. However, a court disqualified him from competing in the general elections in May.