Pervez Musharraf's medical report handed to special court

ISLAMABAD: The report of a medical board set up by the special court hearing the high treason case of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was today presented before it in a sealed cover.

The special court had on January 16 ordered the formation of a medical board comprising senior doctors of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) for ascertaining the health condition of 70-year-old Musharraf and had directed that the board should submit its report by today.

The court had asked the medical board to answer mainly three questions.

"First is to find out whether Musharraf needs a surgery or not. Second is to find out how long it will take for Musharraf to recover completely," Musharraf's lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri had said earlier.

The decision came hours after Musharraf's legal team submitted a letter written by his US-based private doctor Arjumand Hashmi in which he has said the former president should be sent to Paris Regional Medical Center, Texas for treatment.

In the letter, Dr Hashmi, who has treated Musharraf since 2006, stated that the former president's medical reports show a significant amount of coronary artery heart disease which can result in major heart attack and lead to a significant cardiac mortality if left untreated.

Musharraf was rushed to a military hospital in Rawalpindi on January 2 after he suddenly developed a medical complication while en route to attend the hearing of the case.

He faces treason charges for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.

It is the first time in Pakistan's history that a former military ruler has been put on trial for treason, a charge that entails life imprisonment or death penalty if convicted.