Rabu 01 Jan 2014 16:29 WIB

Pakistan's ex-military ruler Musharraf goes on trial for treason

Foto: Reuters/Mian Khursheed

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is seen during a pre-recorded video statement played for his supporters and members of the media in Islamabad December 31, 2013.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf (70 years) went on trial for treason on Wednesday, Jan. 1, a case that could test the relationship between an increasingly assertive civilian government and the army.

Musharraf, who did not appear in court, says the trial is a politically motivated vendetta. He did not appear on Wednesday because, his lawyers said, explosives had again been found near his house.

Musharraf faces the death penalty over his suspension of the constitution and imposition of emergency rule in 2007, when he was trying to extend his rule as president in the face of growing opposition.

His lawyers argued that Musharraf cannot get a fair trial in Pakistan because of his history of disputes with the judiciary and the involvement of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whom he once overthrew in a coup.

"I am talking of vengeance of a person, my lord," said defense lawyer Anwar Mansoor. "One individual (Sharif) has a bias against the respondent."

Musharraf ousted Sharif in a coup in 1999. Sharif was jailed for a period and then forced into exile. He returned eight years later and won a landslide victory in a May general election.

Musharraf himself stepped down in 2008 to avoid impeachment charges after judges and lawyers led street protests over his attempt to fire the then-chief justice.

It was unclear if Musharraf would eventually appear in court. The trial opened on December 24 but was immediately suspended after a bag of explosives was found on Musharraf's route to the court.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan last year, hoping to contest elections that marked the first democratic transfer of power from one civilian government to another in coup-prone Pakistan's history. Instead, he was barred from standing and enmeshed in a web of legal cases, repeatedly charged and bailed.

The military is Pakistan's most powerful institution and it has ruled the country for more than half its history since independence in 1947. But in recent years the civilian government and judiciary have both become more assertive. Top military officers have been questioned although not convicted in human rights and corruption cases.