Pakistan government names lawyer for Pervez Musharraf's trial

The Pakistan government today nominated Akram Sheikh as its lawyer for the trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on charges of high treason.

Sheikh, a leading lawyer who is close to the ruling PML-N party, has in the past served as counsel for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Mansoor Ijaz, the Pakistani-American businessman who was a key figure in the "Memogate" scandal.

Ijaz accused former envoy Husain Haqqani of authoring a memo that purportedly sought US help to stave off a coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. Sharif had petitioned the Supreme Court to investigate the issue.

On Tuesday, Sharif chose three judges from a panel of five recommended by the Supreme Court for the special court that will try the 70-year-old Musharraf for imposing emergency and subverting the Constitution in 2007.

This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a civilian administration has sought the criminal prosecution of a military ruler. Musharraf's lawyers said he would challenge the special court in the Supreme Court.

Justice Faisal Arab of Sindh High Court will head the special court and its other members are Justice Tahira Safdar of Balochistan High Court and Justice Yawar Ali of Lahore High Court.

Musharraf has been embroiled in a series of cases after he returned to Pakistan from self-exile in March to contest the general election that brought the PML-N to power.

He was recently released from house arrest after he obtained bail in four major cases, including one related to the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.