Musharraf hearing halted yet again
Iran Press TV
Thu Jan 2, 2014 9:47AM GMT
The lawyers of Pakistan's former military ruler Parvez Musharraf have walked out of a court hearing, disrupting the high-profile hearing held on treason charges.
The former Pakistani president is accused of treason for imposing emergency law in 2007.
Musharraf's lawyers walked out of the hearing, a third session, on Thursday, complaining that their security had been compromised and that they had been harassed.
"I was under total threat... from 1:00 a.m. to five in the morning. Someone was banging on my door and ringing my bell," said Anwar Mansoor Khan, one of the lawyers representing Musharraf.
Khan accused the current government of being responsible for the alleged threats and harassment.
"This never happened in my 40 years of practice. I will walk out."
The first hearing in Musharraf's case was halted on December 24, 2013 after explosives were found on the road that would be used to take Musharraf to the court. A second session was also stalled due to a bomb scare.
Khan said he had also been attacked in his car while traveling to Lahore after the previous hearing.
Musharraf has faced different charges, the treason accusations being the latest, since he returned to Pakistan in 2013 after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai. the former ruler sought to run in the country's general elections in May of the noted year.
If found guilty in the treason case, 70-year-old Musharraf could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Musharraf did not show up for the Thursday hearing due to a "heart problem," officials said.
He has slammed the treason case brought against him, saying that it is politically motivated and that he still has the support of the country's army.
Musharraf stepped down as the president of Pakistan in August 2008 and left the country a year later.
SZH/HSN/HJL
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