Musharraf will not appear before court

RAWALPINDI – Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said on Sunday that the former president would not make a scheduled appearance at his treason trial on Monday because of an on-going illness.

The 70-year-old was rushed to a military hospital on Thursday after developing what a police official called a “heart problem” while being taken to hear treason charges against him at a special tribunal in Islamabad.

“Everyone is aware of his sickness. The whole world knows that he is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the court also knows that,” Raza Kasuri said.

“We just have to make an oral request in the court that since he is not well, his presence should be dispensed with,” Kasuri said.

The ex-dictator spent his fourth day in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in Rawalpindi.

The court had adjourned its proceedings Thursday and summoned Musharraf to appear on Monday, but Kasuri said he hoped it would now “exempt his personal presence”.

“The court is not making a special concession to Musharraf. It is according to the law. Human life is over and above justice,” Kasuri added.

Doctors treating Musharraf had sent his medical reports to experts in Britain to determine his further treatment at home or abroad, he added.