Pakistan Supreme Court considers request to try Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan’s Supreme Court says it will consider a request to try the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason as he prepares to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The court announced on Monday that it would hear a petition that accuses the retired general of treason for imposing emergency rule in 2007.

Taufiq Asif, the president of the High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi, has brought the petition to the Supreme Court to put Musharraf on trial for the 2007 events.

The former army chief-turned-president faces a string of charges including involvement in the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Last month, Musharraf returned home after a four-year self-imposed exile in London and Dubai to run for parliamentary elections of May 11.

On April 1, an unnamed election commission official in Kasur district of Punjab Province issued a statement saying that Musharraf “has been disqualified” because of court cases against him.

However, Jamal Khan, a returning officer for a constituency in the northern town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, said on Sunday that Musharraf was allowed to run for the elections.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Pakistani government to hold Musharraf accountable for widespread and serious human rights abuses under his rule.