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Pak court defers Sharief charges to Monday

A Pakistan court today delayed the laying of formal charges against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharief and six others until Monday, saying that the chargesheet submitted by the prosecution was not complete. ''In order to have a fair trial the prosecution is directed to supply copies and transcripts of audio and video cassettes to the defence by Monday,'' anti-terrorism court judge Shabir Ahmed said.

Ahmed was named last night by the military-led government to preside over the trail against Sharief, his brother Shahbaz and five others accused of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder and hijacking -- a charge that could lead to a death sentence. The formal charging has already been delayed by the change in judges caused by the government amending the law last week so that only high court judges could preside over the fast-track anti-terrorism courts.

Previously, the anti-terrorism court was headed by a lower-ranking sessions judge. The charges against Sharief and others arise from an alleged attempt on October 12 to divert a plane bringing army chief General Pervez Musharraf to Karachi from Sri Lanka.

Reuters

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