A special court asked the Pakistan government on Thursday to take steps to extradite former President Pervez Musharraf from Dubai and arrest him in a case of high treason, Dawn reported. The court also asked the interior ministry to attach Musharraf’s properties in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates.
The court asked the Federal Investigation Agency what procedure should be followed to bring back an absconder who was abroad. The hearing was adjourned until March 21.
This was the first hearing in the case in nine months, according to Geo News. The special bench, led by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, was formed in 2013 to try Musharraf for imposing the state of emergency in the country in November 2007, when he was president. Several judges were confined to house arrest or sacked after the state of emergency was imposed.
The former Army chief was indicted in March 2014 on treason charges. The court declared him a proclaimed absconder in May 2016, two months after he left the country for Dubai.
Musharraf is also an accused in the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and was declared an absconder in the case by a special anti-terrorism court in August 2017. The court had also ordered seizure of his properties.
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