News
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Senate demands treason case against MusharrafBy Ijaz Kakakhel
ISLAMABAD: The Upper House on Friday unanimously passed a resolution, calling for a trial of former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution for derailing democracy and abrogating the constitution.
Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N moved the resolution and senators Raza Rabbani and Farhatullah Babar of the PPP supported the move, which created consensus and the resolution was adopted without any opposition from any of the senators.
Dar said the interim government should implement the orders of the judiciary and ensure that the Senate’s resolution passed on January 23, 2012 was also implemented.
During the session, a resolution to remove Musharraf’s pictures from government buildings was also approved.
On adoption of the resolution, Senator Raza Rabbani described it as a historic moment in the parliamentary history of the Senate, and suggested to place both the resolutions outside the Senate Secretariat.
ANP Senator Zahid Khan questioned why Musharraf was not arrested over court orders. After court directions, he suggested that Musharraf should be shifted to Attock Fort, where former PM Nawaz Sharif was kept. “It is not just to declare Musharraf’s own house a sub-jail for him.”
Senator Farhatullah Babar questioned who decided to declare the farmhouse a sub-jail. “Is it the decision of the interim government or some other force?”
Babar claimed that the government had spent a huge amount on Musharraf’s commando training, but on Thursday, he used that training to escape arrest after court orders.
Senator Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N said there were two types of arrest; one for mere detention and the second for the sake of a trial.
“If Musharraf was arrested for the sake of detention (his life is threaten by someone) then its ok, but if the arrest was made for a trial then putting him in house is unlawful.”
He said the former dictator’s name was in the Exit Control List, but there was a helipad in Musharraf’s farmhouse. “There is a serious concern that some ‘force’ may come there and move him to another place.”
Caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib told the senators that Musharraf had been arrested and was in the custody of the government. He said there had been some problems for arresting Musharraf due to his past position, but “despite such problems, we arrest a dictator for the first time in the country’s history”.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk