LONDON: Lawyers for former president Pervez Musharraf on Friday appealed to the United Nations to intervene and help prevent him being tried for treason, saying he faced a "show trial".
Musharraf's case, initiated by the government, focuses on accusations that the former military leader breached the constitution when he imposed emergency rule in 2007.
Musharraf's trial is due to begin on Dec. 24.
His plea, issued from London by an international legal team, is designed to get the United Nations to urge Nawaz Sharif, to delay or stop it.
It was sent to a U.N. special rapporteur who investigates complaints about the independence of judges and another who deals with cases involving the death penalty.
The rapporteurs have recently reported on high-profile cases in Sri Lanka and Iraq. The document was also sent to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
His lawyers made the same appeal to the British, American and Saudi governments, citing what they said was Musharraf's "immense assistance" to the West during his time in office.
Musharraf's lawyers said they had compiled a report for the United Nations supporting his case, saying the charges against him were revenge for his ousting of Sharif in 1999.
The judges in charge of the case had been selected by Sharif and would not conduct a fair trial, they said.
"Politicians have no business hand-picking judges to try their opponents," said Steven Kay, a member of Musharraf's legal team.
Nor, the lawyers' report said separately, could the judges be regarded as impartial since they had been affected by a crackdown on Pakistan's judiciary during Musharraf's near-decade of military rule.
"The three judges appointed to try Musharraf's case have such an obvious conflict of interest that it is reasonable to call them to withdraw," the report said.
Comments
Comments are closed.