Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is due to go on trial charged with treason.
The charges relate to his decision in 2007 to suspend the constitution and impose emergency rule.

The trial had been due to open last week but was postponed after Mr Musharraf's lawyers said explosives had been found along his route to the court house in Islamabad.

Mr Musharraf says all the accusations against him are politically motivated.

The 70-year-old is the first Pakistani former military ruler to face trial for treason. He could be sentenced to death or life in prison if found guilty.

He also faces separate charges of murder and restricting the judiciary.

Mr Musharraf's lawyers have tried to delay proceedings by arguing that as he was the army chief in 2007, only a military court had the authority to try him.

But Islamabad's high court rejected the petition. It also dismissed objections over the appointment of judges and prosecutor.

It is not yet clear whether he will attend in person when the trial reopens.
Mr Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999. He remained president until 2008 when a democratically elected government forced him to resign. He left the country soon afterwards to live in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London.


On his return to Pakistan in March 2013 he hoped he could lead his party into elections, but was disqualified from standing and found himself fighting an array of charges relating to his time in power.

Correspondents says many Pakistanis believe the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - whom Mr Musharraf ousted in 1999 - is using the trial to divert attention from the problems the country is facing, including a struggling economy and continuing sectarian and other attacks.

On 24 December, Mr Musharraf's lawyers said he could not appear in the courtroom because of a heightened security threat after explosives and weapons were found by the road along his route.

The court granted Mr Musharraf a one-off exemption from appearing.

By BBC

 

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