The mother of trials: Musharraf to be tried for 'treason'

The Federal government on Sunday announced that it would move Supreme Court to form a judicial commission in order to initiate prosecution proceedings against former President and Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf under High Treason Act. "For this purpose, we will formally request Supreme Court today (Monday) to form a judicial commission for inquiry against Musharraf under Article-6," Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told media on Sunday.
He said that Musharraf would be tried for High Treason Act under Article 6, adding that for this case after the judgement of the Supreme Court, Federal Investigation Authority (FIA)'s team was constituted to compile all evidence regarding Musharraf in relation to his act of imposing Emergency Plus on November 3, 2007.
The FIA team has completed its report and submitted it to the Interior Ministry on November 16, 2013, he said, adding that the government had decided to start proceedings against Musharraf under Article-6.
He said all team members of FIA enjoyed good repute and that all of them could testify that no one had ever tried to influence them.
Nisar said the Chief Justice of Supreme Court would nominate a judicial tribunal; while federal government would be responsible to follow the instructions of the tribunal.
The Interior Minister said the Government examined the report and decided to move Chief Justice of Pakistan to form a three-member Commission so that a case could be initiated formally against Musharraf under Article-6. He said a letter for this purpose would be sent to the Chief Justice today (Monday).
Nisar said the Chief Justice would identify three High Courts and one Judge from each court will be taken in the Commission. He said the Government would also nominate a Special Public Prosecutor who would prosecute the case from the Government side. "Musharraf will have to be held accountable for violating the constitution and the detention of judges," he said.
"It would for the first time in the history of Pakistan that Article-6 is going to be implemented. It's very important and sensitive," he said.
"All this must not be considered as an act of personal vendetta against Musharraf. It's been approximately five months since our party (PML-N) came into power and none of our acts could be categorised as personal revenge. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had made it clear even before coming into power that Musharraf was forgiven for all personal troubles that he caused to him. But he also maintained that constitutional violations would be dealt with according to the law," he added.