ISLAMABAD (AFP) ― A Pakistani court Monday indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason on charges relating to his 2007 imposition of emergency in a historic first for a country ruled for half its history by the army.

A special tribunal comprising three judges read out five charges, with the ex-president pleading “not guilty” to each of them.

Musharraf, who has been absent from most of the tribunal‘s hearings owing to security threats and ill health, then turned to address the court.

“I honour this court and prosecution, I strongly believe in law I don’t have ego problems, and I have appeared in court 16 times in this year in Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi,” the 70-year-old, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, said.

“I am being called a traitor, I have been chief of army staff for nine years and I have served this army for 45 years. I have fought two wars and it is treason?”

Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November 2007 amid mounting legal challenges to his rule.