Musharraf must be prosecuted, says Sharif

Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said that prosecuting former president General Pervez Musharraf under high treason charges, for taking 'extrajudicial' actions on November 3, 2007, would help resolve the current crisis facing the country.

Interacting with party workers at his Raiwind residence, Sharif said trying Musharraf would ensure that the door to military interference in the country's politics would be closed for good.

"Today's Constitutional crisis is the result of the military coup on October 12, 1999," The News quoted Sharif, as saying.

"If common people and former prime ministers can face trials then why should a military dictator, who violated the Constitution twice, not be prosecuted?" the former prime minister asked.

Meanwhile, senior PML-N leader Ghous Ali Shah has rebutted reports regarding Sharif being involved in the 'secret' deal that saw Musharraf stepping down from the Presidency.

Shah said if Musharraf is not prosecuted under Article 6 of the Constitution, then it will have a serious effect on the country's democratic set-up.

"A military dictator contested elections in uniform with the permission of the courts and abrogated the constitution twice. If he was pardoned, then democracy would never consolidate," Shah said.