DHAKA: Lawyers representing Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in a landmark treason case said on Wednesday they had been threatened with beheading, and urged a new venue for the trial.

They also urged the court to let Musharraf, who last month became the first former army chief to appear in court for treason, to go abroad for medical treatment.

The case relates to his 2007 imposition of emergency rule and is seen as a key test of civilian authority over the country’s powerful army.

Lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri said the defence team wanted the trial shifted to another location and feared for its safety, after a gun and suicide attack on a lower court complex in Islamabad on Monday left 11 dead, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1411 HRS, MAR 05, 2014