Haq's Musings: Musharraf Wants to Face Trial But Pakistan Army Opposes it
President Musharraf strongly believes he is innocent of all of the charges leveled against him and he wants to go through his treason trial under Article 6 of the Pakistan Constitution. However, Pakistan Army does not want to see its former chief and a retired four-start general tried and convicted because it would set an unacceptable precedent for the entire military.
The theory is that if Musharraf's trial were to go through in a court made up of civilian judges, it would essentially nullify the Army Act which does not recognize the jurisdiction of civilian courts over Pakistani military officers. Under the Army Act, the military officer can only be tried in a military court even for charges relating to violation of civilian laws.
Prior to Nawaz Sharif government's attempts to drag Musharraf into civilian courts, there was a similar effort made the PPP government two years ago to try in a civilian court two retired senior Army officers with financial mismanagement in NLC (National Logistics Cell) scandal. General Kayani thwarted it by bringing them back in military service and insisting that they be tried in a military court.
The military has already made a soft intervention in General Musharraf's case when it took him to a hospital when he was on his way to a waiting court which, after summarily rejecting all of the defense attorneys' pretrial motions,appeared ready to charge Musharraf and convict him under Article 6 after a rushed trial.
The soft intervention appears to be a warning to Nawaz Sharif's government, the prosecutors and the judges that Musharraf's trial is unacceptable. If the government persists in its efforts to try the former general, a hard intervention in the form of a coup can not be ruled out. This is a critical moment in the long and rocky history of civil-military relations in Pakistan.
To learn more about it and other current topics, please watch the following video:
[VIDEO]
Haq's Musings: Musharraf Wants to Face Trial But Pakistan Army Opposes it
President Musharraf strongly believes he is innocent of all of the charges leveled against him and he wants to go through his treason trial under Article 6 of the Pakistan Constitution. However, Pakistan Army does not want to see its former chief and a retired four-start general tried and convicted because it would set an unacceptable precedent for the entire military.
The theory is that if Musharraf's trial were to go through in a court made up of civilian judges, it would essentially nullify the Army Act which does not recognize the jurisdiction of civilian courts over Pakistani military officers. Under the Army Act, the military officer can only be tried in a military court even for charges relating to violation of civilian laws.
Prior to Nawaz Sharif government's attempts to drag Musharraf into civilian courts, there was a similar effort made the PPP government two years ago to try in a civilian court two retired senior Army officers with financial mismanagement in NLC (National Logistics Cell) scandal. General Kayani thwarted it by bringing them back in military service and insisting that they be tried in a military court.
The military has already made a soft intervention in General Musharraf's case when it took him to a hospital when he was on his way to a waiting court which, after summarily rejecting all of the defense attorneys' pretrial motions,appeared ready to charge Musharraf and convict him under Article 6 after a rushed trial.
The soft intervention appears to be a warning to Nawaz Sharif's government, the prosecutors and the judges that Musharraf's trial is unacceptable. If the government persists in its efforts to try the former general, a hard intervention in the form of a coup can not be ruled out. This is a critical moment in the long and rocky history of civil-military relations in Pakistan.
To learn more about it and other current topics, please watch the following video:
[VIDEO]
Haq's Musings: Musharraf Wants to Face Trial But Pakistan Army Opposes it
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