Sharif brothers may face trial in military court

The sources claimed that Sharif and his brother, along with former ISI chief Lt Gen Khwaja Ziauddin, Lt Gen Tariq Pervez, Brig Javed Malik and some other army officers, would be tried in the FGCM under section 2(1)(C) of the army act, which was ironically amended by the dethroned government to insert a provision under which civilians can be tried in amilitary court.

Ziauddin, Pervez and Malik are alleged to have sided with Sharif on October 12 prior to the coup and have since been under detention. Sharif had appointed Ziauddin as army chief after sacking General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, while Tariq Pervez had been removed by the army chief about a week before the coup for his `secret meeting’ with the premier. Brig Malik was the military secretary to Sharif.

Sharif and his brother, along with five others, have already been charge-sheeted for waging war against Pakistan, attempted murder and attempted hijacking in an anti-terrorism court in Karachi which could also lead to the death penalty if convicted. The report quoting army sources added that the authorities had decided to initiate trial in a military court following painstaking investigations and interrogation of more than two dozen suspects.

The military authorities maintain that Ziauddin, Tariq Pervez and Malik conspired with Sharif and Shahbaz against the army chief to overthrow him bycreating division within the army, the report said. "This amounts to creating a mutiny and war-like situation in the country," the sources told the paper, adding former cabinet ministers, Mushahid Hussain and Choudhury Nisar Ali Khan, as well as former defence secretary Choudhury Iftekhar Ali Khan may also be questioned in this regard.

The accused will be charged under sections 131 and 132 of Pakistan penal code and can be tried in a military court under the army act.

Section 131 deals with abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce a soldier from his allegiance or his duty and the punishment under this section is imprisonment for life or upto ten years.

Sharif’s son-in-law, nephew held

Deposed Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif’s nephew and son-in-law have been arrested and put under house arrest, newspaper reports said here today. Hamza Sharif, son of Shahbaz, and Captain Safdar, Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law were arrested from a house in Lahore by a large contingent of police on Wednesdayand taken to Sharif’s farmhouse at Raiwind in the outskirts of the city. They were lodged in the farmhouse after a room was declared a "sub-jail", The News reported. Most male members of the Sharif family are already under detention and only ladies are allowed to move around freely.