Musharraf fails to appear before court for treason trial

Embattled former Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf on Friday failed to appear before a special court for his indictment in the high treason trial citing security concerns.

The court reserved its judgement till afternoon after 70-year-old Musharraf did not turn up. "It would be very difficult to present Musharraf before the Court due to security concerns.

The security alert says that he could be targeted like slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer by his own bodyguards," Musharraf's lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri told reporters outside the court. "So as per protocol each of the 1,600 security personnel have to be screened and it will take few weeks," he said.

He also claimed that the government and the Army were not on the same page on the issue of Musharraf's trial. Kasuri accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of vendetta politics. A three-member bench, headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court, had summoned the former president on Friday for him to be indicted.

However, Musharraf's counsel, Anwar Mansoor, submitted an application in the court requesting for his exemption. He said the background checks need to be conducted on the security personnel deployed for Musharraf's security and this would take at least 6 weeks. The judge noted that in case Musharraf does not appear, charges will be read out to the lawyer.

However, Kasuri said that an accused cannot be indicted in absentia. Prosecutor Akram Sheikh argued that Musharraf should be taken into custody so that the government could be responsible for his security. He said that Rs 20 crore has been spent on Musharraf s security till now.

Musharraf had on Tuesday failed to turn up for his indictment in the court citing security reasons and was summoned for Friday. This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a former military ruler is facing trial for high treason. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) briefed the special court judges on the security alert issued relating to Musharraf.

The ISI representatives told the judges that the latest alert was issued after a call had been traced in relation to a possible attack being planned against Musharraf.