Treason probe ordered against Musharraf

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the government to initiate a probe against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case and complete the investigation without “unnecessary delay”.

Neither the government nor the court has set any deadline for completion of probe by the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court was told the government had already constituted a special team to investigate the case.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced on June 24 that General Musharraf will be tried for treason under Article 6 for subverting the constitution twice — first when he overthrew an elected government in 1999 and second when he sacked judges and imprisoned them in 2007. Treason charges under Article 6 carry the maximum penalty of death sentence.

General Musharraf is currently imprisoned in his house in the suburbs of Islamabad, which has been declared as a sub-jail.

He faces charges in two other high-profile cases — the

>assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the 2006 killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a military operation.