Musharraf treason case: Pak special court to announce verdict on Dec 17

The verdict in the high treason case against former Pakistan dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf would be pronounced on December 17, a special court announced on Thursday.

Last week, the special court ordered 76-year-old Musharraf to record statement by December 5 in the treason case after the Islamabad High Court (IHC), after hearing the petitions filed by Dubai-based Musharraf and the Pakistan government, stopped the special court from issuing the verdict on November 28.

The statement was made by a three-member bench of the special court, headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, which was conducting a hearing of the case against the former president on Thursday, Geo News reported.

The new prosecution team's lawyers informed the court that they needed more time to prepare for the case.

Justice Seth said thatno postponement will be allowed and an order in writing should be submitted stating that arguments would be completed by December 17.

Adjourning proceedings till December 17, Justice Seth said they would hear the arguments in the next proceeding and announce the verdict, Dawn News reported.

They (prosecutors) should keep aside other cases and fight this case, Justice Seth was quoted as saying by the report.

He said that the judges had come from various parts of the country for the special court.

"This is a special case and this is a special court," Justice Seth remarked.

The special court had on November 19 concluded the trial proceedings in the high treason case against Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, and had ruled that a verdict would be announced on November 28 on the basis of the available record.

The high treason trial of the former military dictator for clamping the state of emergency on November 3, 2007, filed during the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, has been pending since 2013.

He was booked in the treason case in December 2013. Musharraf was indicted on March 31, 2014, and the prosecution had tabled the entire evidence before the special court in September the same year.

But due to litigation at appellate forums, the trial of the former military dictator lingered on and he left Pakistan in March 2016 with the nod of superior courts as well as the interior ministry for medical treatment.

According to previous Pakistani media reports, Musharraf had amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by the build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues in the body, and is under medication.