Musharraf always said emergency was not his individual act, says lawyer

ISLAMABAD: Talking to Geo News on Friday, Barrister Farogh Nasim has said that from the beginning Pervez Musharraf’s stand was that the imposition of emergency was not his individual decision. If any of his lawyers had said against it in the Supreme Court, it is not Musharraf’s stand.

He said the Pakistan Army has to decide that imposition of emergency by Pervez Musharraf was his individual act or was driven from “institutional suggestion”.

Ansar Abbasi alleged that Naseem issued this statement to save his client. He said the army could save Musharraf only through martial law which will leave the country in trouble. He said Altaf Hussain of the MQM has already demanded Martial Law through different ways.

He said army is not a group of 500,000 troops but it is an army of 180 million people. He said the army should take into consideration its perception among the masses if the army gets itself involved in Musharraf case.

He said the legal way for Musharraf goes through the court. He said Musharraf’s lawyers have objections to the judiciary and intend to put the army against the judiciary and the parliament which would ultimately lead to Martial Law.

Ferogh Nasim said his statement that the army should save its chief the way lawyers saved the former chief justice meant to highlight the context in which the lawyers launched their movement.

He said the army should eliminate doubts surrounding the debate if the emergency was an individual’s or institution’s decision. He said all matters related to Musharraf should be settled within the ambit of the constitution. He said he did not talk of Martial Law and the army has constitutional and legal remedies to offer Musharraf when the time comes.

He questioned on what basis Abbasi is saying that Musharraf’s lawyers are talking aboutm Martial Law while what all they say is that constitutional and legal methods should be applied to save Musharraf.

He said Musharraf was the army chief when Martial Law was imposed on October 12 1999 but the history should be traced back to 1950s. He said the SC has written in its detailed order that Musharraf’s lawyers have admitted that imposition of emergency was his individual act whereas neither he, nor his client, has ever adopted this stance. He said Musharraf has always stated that he has aced upon the advice given to him on this matter.