Sharif may be hanged for
‘mutiny’
ISLAMABAD, Dec 9 (PTI)
— Pakistan’s military regime is reportedly
planning to try deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his
brother and some top army officers in a military court on
charges of abetting mutiny, for which Mr Sharif could get
the death penalty if convicted.
Mr Sharif and his
brother Shahbaz Sharif are likely to be tried in a Field
General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Army Act for
charges including attempting to create dissension in the
armed forces, high treason and trying to bring the armed
forces face-to-face with law enforcement agencies on
October 12, when he was toppled in a coup, the daily
‘Pakistan Observer’ reported today quoting
“informed sources.”
The sources claimed that
Mr 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 a
military court.
Lt Gen Ziauddin, Lt Gen
Pervez and Brig Malik are alleged to have sided with Mr
Sharif on October 12 prior to the coup and have since
been under detention.
Mr Sharif had appointed
Lt Gen Ziauddin army chief after sacking General Pervez
Musharraf on October 12, while Lt Gen 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 Mr Sharif.
The military authorities
maintain that Lt Gen Ziauddin, Lt Gen Pervez and Brig
Malik conspired with Mr Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz against
the army chief to overthrow him by creating 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.
Section 132 says if a
mutiny is committed in consequence of the abetment, the
responsible persons shall be punished with death or
imprisonment for life.
In a related development
Mr Sharif’s nephew and son-in-law have also been
arrested and put under house arrest.
Hamza Sharif, son of
Shahbaz Sharif, and Captain Safdar, Mr Nawaz
Sharif’s son-in-law were arrested from a house in
Lahore by a large contingent of police yesterday and
taken to Mr 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. 
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