Pakistani Court Issues Un-Bailable Arrest Warrant for Musharraf
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A Pakistani court on Friday issued non-bailable arrest warrant for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in high treason case.
The arrest warrant was issued after Musharraf failed to appear before the three-member bench on Friday.
The court had summoned the former president to formally indict him with high treason charges for abrogating the constitution.
The court ordered Mushararf to appear on March 31, Xinhua reported.
"Arrest the accused if he refuses to appear before the court," a short order said.
Musharraf, who had taken over in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been accused of committing high treason when he suspended the constitution and imposed emergency in November 2007.
Musharraf's defense lawyer, Anwar Mansoor, earlier told the court that the former president cannot appear because of dangers to his life.
"We cannot take risk to bring Musharraf to the court," Mansoor had told the court when head of the three member bench asked him why the accused has not been produced.
He referred to a recent threat alert by the security agencies, saying the Taliban and al- Qaeda militants have planned an assassination attempt on Pervez Musharraf.
According to the letter, a copy of which was also released to the media on Monday, the ministry has warned that the militants have planned to target Musharraf inside or outside the court.
Musharraf's another defense lawyer, Ahmed Reza Kasuri, presented a copy of the letter as the proceedings started Tuesday morning.
Pakistan Taliban had denied threats to Musharraf and said they would not attack him due to a month-long cease-fire announced on March 1st.
The prosecutor, Akram Sheikh, insisted the court to issue an un- bailable arrest warrant for Musharraf as he is avoiding court's appearance. He also suggested that if Musharraf does not want to appear then the proceedings could be held inside a prison.
The court was informed that over 2,000 security personnel are deployed for Musharraf's security on every hearing. However Musharraf's defense team was dissatisfied with measures against security threats.
Musharraf is Pakistan's first military ruler in the country's nearly 66-year history to face high treason charge.
