Pervez Musharraf moved to hospital ahead of court appearance

The former army strongman was taken to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi ldquoafter suddenly developing a medical complication while en route to the special courtrdquo Dawn online reportedThe judges of the special court announced a break till 4 pm after being informed of the sudden development by DIG Security Jan Mohammad adding that an order would be issued after the end of the breakThe court had Wednesday warned Musharraf to appear before it failing which arrest warrants would be issued against himEarlier Thursday the court had ordered that he should appear it before 1130 am according to the Dawn reportPrior to that the court also had to take a short recess after Musharrafs lawyer Anwar Mansoor staged a walkout citing lack of sleep due to alleged disturbances outside the door of his residence Wednesday nightThis apart Sharifuddin Pirzada the head of Musharrafs defence team alleged that chief prosecutor Akram Shaikh had hurled threats to him through Ibrahim Satti another lawyer in the former presidents defence teamMusharraf had failed Wednesday for the second time in 10 days to appear before the threemember bench and the court adjourned the proceedings for a day Xinhua reportedThe government had initiated treason charges against the former military president for suspending subverting and abrogating the Constitution imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts Legal experts say the charges carry death penalty or life imprisonmentThe court had summoned Musharraf to formally frame charges of high treason against him but his defence lawyers told the court that the former president could not appear because of threats to his lifeThe Islamabad police chief had told the court that tight security arrangements have been made for the former president and that nearly 1000 security personnel have been deployed on the route from Musharrafs house to the courtHe also said a bulletproof vehicle had been provided for Musharraf but said the Islamabad police did not have bombproof vehiclesThe police earlier claimed the arrest of two suspects from a roadside restaurant on Musharrafs route early WednesdayThey had also said that they had recovered explosives near Musharrafs house and on the route to court over the past few daysDuring Wednesdays court proceedings Musharrafs lawyers raised objections to the formation and powers of the special court and argued that the prime minister could not nominate judges for a courtThe court said it would give a ruling on its composition and jurisdiction ThursdayThe defence lawyers also requested the court to delay the hearing by five weeks but their request was turned downThey had earlier tried to stop the trial on the plea that the special court had no power to try a former army chief and that a military court can try him under the army actPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced in June the high treason case against the former military ruler would be initiated for suspending the constitution The decision had evoked mixed reactions as critics were of the view that Pakistan faced serious challenges and could not afford such a trialMusharraf had taken over in a bloodless coup when he had dismissed the government of Nawaz Sharif in 1999The 70yearold former army chief currently lives in his farmhouse in Islamabad after getting bail in three high profile cases including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir BhuttoMusharraf who had resigned in 2008 and gone into exile returned to Pakistan in March this year to take part in parliamentary elections However a court disqualified him from standing in the May elections