Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha
Islamabad: In an impassioned speech made after his indictment, former Pakistan President and military general Pervez Musharraf pleaded not guilty to the charges and said that he was `not a traitor`.
Rejecting all charges against hime, Musharraf said, "I am being called a traitor, I have been chief of army staff for nine years and I have served this army for 45 years. I have fought two wars. Is it treason?”
“I am not a traitor. For me traitors are those who loot public money and empty the treasury," he added.
Musharraf was yesterday indicted over high-treason charges by a three-member Special Court headed by Justice Faisal Arab and comprised other two judges Justice Yawar Ali Khan and Justice Tahira Safdar.
Musharraf`s indictment verdict that was read out by Justice Tahira Safdar, accused the former General of treason for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of superior courts.
If found guilty, he faces the death sentence or life imprisonment.
The court also rejected Musharaf`s application for seeking permission to travel abroad but the special court ruled that it was not the one to put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) and hence it was not the special court`s prerogative to remove his name from the list.
Musharraf had requested the court for a permission to travel abroad fro his treatment and to meet his ailing mother in Sharjah.
Musharraf is the first military ruler in Pakistan`s history to be tried in court and his indictment is being seen as a setback to the country`s strong Armed Forces.
