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Pakistan's Supreme Court Accepts Request To Try Musharraf


Former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf at a press conference in the Gulf emirate of Dubai in March
Former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf at a press conference in the Gulf emirate of Dubai in March
The Pakistani Supreme Court has accepted a government request to set up a special tribunal to try former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for high treason.

A court spokesman said that the head of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had ordered all the high courts from the country's four provinces to put forward the names of any judges eligible for the three-member special tribunal by November 20.

The government's decision to try Musharraf for treason, punishable by death or life in prison, was announced by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on November 17.

It came after the former military ruler was granted bail in other cases against him, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

Chaudhry was appointed to head the Supreme Court by Musharraf in 2005, before a high-profile falling-out prompted Chaudhry's suspension and subsequent reinstatement by the Supreme Court itself.

Based on reporting by "Tribune" and "Dawn"

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