PML-N demands Kayani’s high treason trial

September 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former President General Pervez Musharraf has no plans to take a flight back to Pakistan until the demand for his trial under the Article Six of the Constitution is placed on the backburner, sources said. "He would return to Pakistan once all the sensitive issues relating to his trial for November 3, 2007 actions are resolved," The Nation quoted sources, as saying.

September 14th, 2009 LAHORE - Former president Pervez Musharraf had resigned from office and left the country under a covert deal that ensured him safe passage, according to PML-Q General Secretary Mushahid Hussain. A private TV channel quoted Mushahid as saying that Musharraf would not return to the country any time soon.

September 14th, 2009 LAHORE - Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has assured former president Pervez Musharraf that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif will not demand a treason trial for him under Article 6 of the constitution. Musharraf said he would demand that all the judges of the superior judiciary who had approved his steps also be tried for treason if the government charged him with sedition.

September 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf Sunday said former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif would not seek his trial for high treason. Sharif has assured King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia that he would respect the agreement (not to call for Musharraf's trial) under Article 6 of Pakistan's constitution, Musharraf told a TV channel.

September 3rd, 2009 RIYADH - Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has returned to London after his three day visit to Saudi Arabia, and it seems his tour has yielded the desired results. Musharraf, who had a long one to one talk with King Abdullah amid speculations of yet another Saudi-backed political arrangement in Pakistan, was in 'high spirits' after the meeting, sources said.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - While the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Pakistan in under immense pressure to try former President General Pervez Musharraf under high treason charges for his 'extrajudicial' actions on November 3,2007, observers believe that the former general's trial would create further problems in the troubled country. Pakistan's failure to act against Musharraf has cast doubts on Islamabad's prospects for establishing an independent judiciary, however, charging him would cause major instability in the country, a Christian Science Monitor report said.

September 2nd, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed has said that former President General Pervez Musharraf had left the country after inking a deal with the present government regarding not being prosecuted under high treason charges, and that one call from Saudi government would silence Musharraf's trial seekers. Speaking on a television chat show, Sayed said only a single telephone call from Saudi Arabia would stop demands for Musharraf's trial.

September 2nd, 2009 JEDDAH - Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, who himself in facing high treason charges, has said that country's enemies must be prosecuted as traitors. A private television channel quoted Musharraf, as saying that traitors must be 'treated as traitors.' Musharraf also said that during his regime Pakistan's economy flourished and attained unprecedented growth, The News reports.

August 31st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has vehemently denied reports that it is preparing a deal allowing former President General Pervez Musharraf to escape the high treason trial under the Article six of the Constitution. Interacting with media persons here, PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said 160 million Pakistanis are in favour of prosecuting Musharraf and want the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution to be maintained.

August 31st, 2009 LAHORE - A day after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's spokesman Zaeem Qadri said that Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani should also be prosecuted under high treason charges along with former President General Pervez Musharraf, the party has denied General Kayani's involvement in imposition of emergency rule on November 3, 2007. PML-N spokesman Siddiq-ul Farooq said Musharraf had imposed emergency rule with the help of a few police officials, and did not take General Kayani into confidence.

August 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has virtually ruled out the trial of former President General Pervez Musharraf for high treason, saying such step a could trigger political imbalance in the country. Responding to opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's demand in the National Assembly, Gilani questioned the 'feasibility' of a Musharraf trial.

August 7th, 2009 LAHORE - Those who facilitated General (r) Pervez Musharraf's move to becoming Pakistan's army chief in 1998, including PML-N leader Nisar Ali Khan and then Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, are now demanding his trial for high treason, the Daily Times reports. A private TV channel quoted Daily Times Editor-in-Chief Najam Sethi, as saying that General Ali Kuli Khan was expected to be named the new army chief in 1998, but Khan and Sharif supported Musharraf for the top military post.

August 7th, 2009 PESHAWAR - There is no need to pass a new parliamentary resolution to prosecute former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf and his courtiers, as a High Treason (Punishment Act) already exists, Pakistani legal experts have said. The Daily Times quoted Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) Secretary-General Mohammad Essa Khan, as saying that there was no need to pass a resolution for trying a violator of the constitution if there were enough proofs against such a person.

July 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to launch a massive legal war against former President General Pervez Musharraf and pressurise the government to charge him for high treason. "Regardless of the court decision we will exploit every opportunity and use every platform for Musharraf's trial under The High Treason (Punishment) Act 1973," PML-N's spokesman Senator Pervez Rashid said.

May 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan has said that former dictators, General Zia-ul- Haq and General Pervez Musharraf could be tried under the High Treason (Punishment) Act of 1973 for subverting the Constitution. Appearing in the Supreme Court to clarify whether a former president can be brought to court on a public complaint or not, Awan, who is also the country's acting law minister, said: "General Zia can be charged posthumously with sabotaging the 1973 Constitution in 1977 and General Musharraf twice in 1999 and 2007." Explaining the details of the Article 6 of the Constitution which deals with high treason for undermining the Constitution, Awan said: "The act that was notified in the gazette of Pakistan in 1973, had become a 'dead letter' since no civilian or military ruler had ever been tried under the law during the past 36 years in view of political exigencies." "Section 2-a of the act says that a person found guilty of having committed an act of abrogating or subverting the Constitution enforced in Pakistan at any time would be tried under the law to hand down death sentence or life imprisonment," The Dawn quoted Awan, as saying.