The move will give breathing room to Musharraf, who is under house arrest
Pakistan’s caretaker government on Monday refused to put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason, telling the Supreme Court that it was beyond its mandate.
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The move will give at least temporary breathing room to Musharraf, who is already under house arrest in connection with one of three other cases dating back to his 1999-2008 period in office. The cases are being heard in lower courts.
By God’s grace: It is the first victory for the general who seized power in 1999 but fled in 2008. He is currently confined to two rooms of his Meditteranean-style villa on the outskirts of Islamabad. File Pic
He has been threatened with death by the Taliban and barred from running in next month’s general election, a humiliating blow to the retired general who returned home in March promising to “save” Pakistan after four years in exile.
“The caretaker government should avoid taking any controversial step and should not commit any process that is not reversible by the incoming elected government,” the administration said in a statement read out in Pakistan’s top court. The SC is hearing a petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf face trial for treason for subverting the constitution. In Pakistan only the state can initiate charges of treason, which can carry the death penalty.
The interim administration, which took office last month, is tasked with guiding the country towards the May 11 vote, which will mark a historic democratic transition of power in a country used to periods of military rule.
The administration will step down after the new elected government takes office and as a result said it had no mandate to order a trial of Musharraf for treason.
With less than three weeks to go, it said overseeing the vote was a full-time job. The Taliban have claimed a series of deadly attacks on politicians and political parties. The government cautioned there was “no urgency” to try Musharraf and said it needed “to confine their work to day-to-day routine matters” and “maintain the status quo” for the incoming elected government.
Musharraf is serving his two-week arrest order in his luxury villa in the upmarket suburb of Chak Shahzad on the edge of Islamabad.
His arrest was ordered by an anti-terrorism court on Saturday in connection with the sacking of judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.
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