ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, who is facing high treason case, is likely to return to the country on May 1, his lawyer said on Saturday. A special court indicted General (retd) Musharraf, 75, for high treason in March 2014. He left for Dubai in 2016 to "seek medical treatment" and has not returned since.
Last month, he was admitted to a hospital in Dubai after suffering a reaction from a rare disease for which he is already under treatment. "Despite his deteriorating medical condition, the former military ruler is determined to appear before the court that had summoned him for the hearing scheduled for May 2," Musharraf's lawyer Salman Safdar told reporters.
"The approval of former president's personal physician had become of upmost importance in the current circumstances, considering his fragile medical condition," Safdar was quoted as saying by the Express News. However, family sources have confirmed his arrival date, he added.
The Pakistan's Supreme Court, while hearing a plea filed by a lawyer who pointed out that proceedings of the treason case had come to a halt as former president Musharraf had not returned since 2016, on April 1 directed the former military ruler to appear before the special court on May 2.
The three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa also warned him that if he fails to turn up then he will lose his right to record a statement under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedures.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against Musharraf over the president's imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007. The special court declared Musharraf a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.
Later, on orders of the Supreme Court, Musharraf's passport and national identity card were also cancelled. Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. A conviction for high treason carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.