PAKISTAN. COURT ADMITS APPEALS IN MUSHARRAF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CASE

the Pakistan Supreme Court admitted for regular hearing the appeals of four junior Air Force officers and a civilian against their death sentences for their involvement in an assassination attempt on President General Pervez Musharraf in 2003.
The Military Court had awarded capital punishment to civilian Mushtaq Ahmed and four junior officers of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for being part of a December 14, 2003, conspiracy to assassinate Musharraf by blowing a bridge near Rawalpindi. The Lahore High Court had rejected their petitions in March. Defence counsels Muhammad Akram and Hashmat Habib argued that Mushtaq Ahmed could not be sentenced to death by the military court under the Air Force Act because he was a civilian and not a regular employee of the Pakistan Air Force. There was no evidence against four junior officers and that they were arrested without any charges, Akram added.