By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A court in Islamabad on Wednesday declared former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf an “absconder” and ordered police to bring him to face treason charges.
Musharraf, who was Pakistan’s president from 2001 to 2008, has repeatedly failed to appear in court on charges relating to the imposition of a state of emergency in 2007 that suspended civil rights.
He is also accused of involvement in the killings of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, veteran Baluch politician Nawab Akbar Bugti and extremist preacher Abdul Rasheed.
A tribunal of judges ordered the Federal Investigation Authority to produce the 72-year-old former army chief within 30 days, according to court records. He is widely reported to be in London receiving medical treatment.
Arrest warrants had been issued against Musharraf at previous hearings.
Musharraf left Pakistan on March 18, soon after his name was removed from a list of people banned from leaving the country by the Supreme Court.
He has pleaded not guilty in the high treason case, which is among a number of charges carrying the death penalty brought since the election of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was toppled by Musharraf in 1999.
