ISLAMABAD- Former President Pervez Musharraf currently facing high treason trial, today moved a court to seek lifting a travel ban on him as he wants treatment abroad, his lawyers said. Musharraf also wants to visit his ailing mother in the United Arab Emirate, they said.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has included Musharraf's name on the Exit Control List (ECL). A special court that hears the high treason case against Musharraf, has already turned down his request to remove his name from the ECL however he has now filed a petition in another court in Karachi. Faroogh Nasim, a senior defence lawyer for Musharraf, argued before the court that no court has imposed restrictions on the movement of his client and that he should be allowed to go abroad. The former President has got bails in high profile cases including the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, his lawyer further argued in the court. He requested the judges to hear the case on urgent basis.
A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court admitted the petition for hearing and sought a reply from the federal government and summoned senior officials of the Interior Ministry and the country's Federal Investigation Agency. The court will hear the government's view on April 23, 2014.
The petition said that Pervez Musharraf had earlier sent an application to the Interior Ministry and asked for removal of his name from the ECL. The government however argued that he cannot be allowed to leave the country as he faces several cases in courts. Musharraf's lawyer described travel restrictions as an act of "victimization" as many people who face cases and are on bails could go abroad. "No courts, including the Supreme Court, has imposed travel ban on Pervez Musharraf and any court can summon him anytime," Nasim told the court.