Pak SC upholds coup, gives Musharraf lot of breathing time

The ruling was given by the judges of the Supreme Court who pledged allegiance to the military government in a move which resulted inthe ouster of the then Chief Justice and several other judges who refused toaccept the validity of the military government.

In January 2000, six out of thirteen judges of the Supreme Court refused totake oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order, (PCO), which was introduced by the Army soon after its takeover.

In its Friday’s verdict, the court said the Army should be able toaccomplish economic and political reforms within three years, and orderedelections to be held no more than 90 days after that.

Under this arrangement, elections will be held in January 2003.

General Musharraf seized power on October 12 from prime minister Nawaz Sharif, charging runaway corruption and economic mismanagement. He has come under international pressure to restore democracy.

Sharif has been in jail since the coup, convicted in April of hijackingand terrorism. Those charges were linked to an incident on the day of the coup in which Sharif allegedly denied the commercial airliner returning Musharraf to Pakistan permission to land in Karachi. The aircraft landed after the Army took power but apparently with only seven minutes of fuel remaining.

Musharraf who has formed a combined civilian and military government,suspended the constitution and introduced a provisional constitution.Previously, Musharraf said his military-led government needed to establisheconomic and political reforms that would allow democracy to take root inPakistan, a country ruled by the army for 25 of its 53-year history.

Meanwhile, in the Attock Fort, former PM Sharif complained about the grimcondition of the cell where he is serving a life sentence.

“There is hardly any light in my room, steel barriers have been erectedoutside my room blocking the sun and the food is bad,” he told the court,adding: “How can I get a fair, transparent and open trial here?”

Sharif was in court to hear new evidence that alleges he evaded payingtaxes and fraudulently imported and owned a helicopter. Sharif has been charged with three counts of corruption, the army-led government’s prosecutor general, Farooq Adam said.

He said at least six additional charges were expected, all in connectionwith allegations that Sharif abused his authority while in power, illegallyused government funds and engaged in corrupt practices. The former premierwas expected to be formally charged and enter a plea on May 27.

Sharif is said to have bought a Russian MI-8 helicopter, but did not paytaxes on it. There were no details about what was fraudulent in the way heimported it and why he did not declare its ownership.

Adam chastised Sharif for making a political speech Friday, but promisedto ensure that the former prime minister receives a free and fair hearing.“We are bending over backward to try and ensure the transparency andfairness of this trial, and we will continue to bend over backward,” Adamsaid. But he warned Sharif against turning the courtroom into a political forum. “This is not going to be a political speechmaking arena," he said.

Adam said Attock Fort was being used to hold Sharif, his brother Shahbazand several other high profile former politicians because their security waseasier to ensure there.