ISLAMABAD: Former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf requested the special court seized with his treason trial to allow his treatment in the United States on humanitarian grounds.

The request was made through an application filed by Gen Musharraf’s lawyers Sharifuddin Pirzada and Anwar Mansoor Khan on Thursday. It also sought an exemption from his court appearance.

The lawyers requested the court to allow their client to get medical treatment in the US from a doctor of his choice.

Gen Musharraf was rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) on Jan 2 when he complained of heart problems while going to the special court. The three-judge court headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court had summoned him for framing charges of high treason.

In compliance with a court order, the AFIC had submitted on Jan 7 a medical report which stated that Gen Musharraf was suffering from triple-vessel coronary artery disease and some other ailments.

On Jan 9, Gen Musharraf’s counsel had submitted a letter from an American cardiologist regarding the heart condition of the former army chief.

In his letter, Dr Arjumand Hashmi, director of interventional cardiology at Paris Regional Medical Centre in Texas, suggested that Gen Musharraf be sent at the earliest to “our medical facility for further diagnostic and therapeutic treatment”.

The application filed on Thursday said that doctors of a medical board constituted on the court’s order had pointed out that the condition of Gen Musharraf was not different from what had been described in their earlier report submitted to the court as well as in the letter sent by Dr Arjumand Hashmi.

“The (latest) report speaks of the seriousness and unpredictability of the condition of the disease, warranting a close and constant medical supervision of the respondent (Gen Musharraf) till a decision to undertake further procedures/interventions, wherefore the respondent is not in a condition to attend issues that cause stress. It could trigger a heart attack which could be fatal,” the application said.

“The report states that the treatment is purely the choice of the patient, in that, the unpredictable nature of the disease and the paucity of advanced cardiac support systems available in the country, like the left ventricular assist devices required to save the patient’s life in the event of sudden severe heart failure complicating such cardiac interventions, makes the respondent to choose his treatment abroad,” the application added.

It said Gen Musharraf’s father had also died of the same disease.

Mohammad Akram Sheikh, head of the prosecution team, described the AFIC report as inconclusive and vague and said it was an attempt to thwart the judicial process.

He said the report did not give any reason why Gen Musharraf needed constant hospitalisation since Jan 2, especially without any progress in his clinical evaluation or management, adding that a patient with such cardiac problem was not be kept in hospital for more than three consecutive days.

“The report has failed to answer the questions the court was interested in knowing with regard to the condition of Gen Musharraf,” he said.

Advocate Sheikh also challenged the findings of Dr Arjumand Hashmi and said these were manipulated.

He claimed that Dr Hashmi was a cousin of Gen Musharraf’s wife and the former military ruler had conferred upon him Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third highest civilian award, on Aug 14, 2005.

“If Gen Musharraf did not want treatment from the AFIC then Dr Hashmi should be called for conducting his angioplasty,” he said.

Advocate Sheikh requested the court to summon AFIC commandant Major General Mohammad Imran Majeed and other military doctors who had prepared the medical report of Gen Musharraf cross-examining by the prosecution.

The hearing was adjourned to Friday.