Suit filed against Musharraf for sedition

A lawyer on Saturday filed a petition in Sindh High Court against former President Pervez Musharraf accusing him of committing "high treason" by inducing the armed forces "to impose martial law" in the country, Business Recorder learnt.
"Pervez Musharraf has committed an act of high treason... through instigating the Chief of Army Staff to impose army rule in the country and this act amounts to an attempt to abrogate the Constitution of Pakistan which is an offence under Article 6 of the Constitution," said the petition filed by Advocate Suhail Hameed.
Hameed, a practising lawyer in high court and member of Karachi Bar Association, has alleged that the former army chief, in his media briefing here on March 9, 2009 had induced his successor General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani to "do something for solidarity of the country".
"If internal threats become too acute and cause a threat to the sovereignty of Pakistan, then it is the responsibility of the army to do something for solidarity of the country," the petition quoted Musharraf as saying. Hameed said according to the law the Prime Minister was required to designate someone to file a case against the accused.
The petitioner requested the SHC "to direct the Prime Minister to direct the person authorised to file a complaint of the commission of high treason defined in Article 6 (1 and 2) of the Constitution of Pakistan before the court against Pervez Musharraf, the retired chief of army staff and retired President of Pakistan, for making statement during the press conference at Karachi," through which he instigated "the army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to intervene and impose army rule in the country to abrogate the Constitution of Pakistan".
When asked if his petition was politically-motivated, the lawyer said: "I felt that in this democratic environment such a statement is an incitement to the army chief for imposing martial law, which, if imposed, would be a trap laid down for the army itself, similar to that of Iraqs Saddam Hussain".
Besides Musharraf, the lawyer has made President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Ministry of Interior and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani as party to the case in his petition. Advocate Hameed had also challenged the first Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) imposed by the then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf in 1999.