A Pakistani court Monday indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason -- a milestone for civilian authority in a country long dominated by the army.

A Pakistani court Monday indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason -- a milestone for civilian authority in a country long dominated by the army.

The charge carries the maximum penalty of death. But observers are uncertain whether authorities will allow the trial to be completed and risk angering the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for half its history.

Musharraf had missed most of the trial's hearings due to ill-health and security threats. But he appeared fit and confident after arriving Monday in a long convoy of SUVs with more than 2,000 security officials deployed on the route from an army-run hospital to the special court.

The ex-general, who seized power in 1999 and resigned in 2008, pleaded "not guilty" as Tahira Safdar, one of three judges hearing the case since December, read the charges relating to his 2007 imposition of emergency rule.

"I honor this court and prosecution, I strongly believe in law and 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 said, referring to a slew of other legal troubles.

He made an emotional speech highlighting the country's achievements under his tenure -- which initially encompassed economic reforms and rapid growth, but ended in rising Islamist bloodshed and a series of confrontations with an increasingly vocal judiciary.

"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'?

"I am not a traitor. For me traitors are those who loot public money and empty the treasury," he added, in a veiled reference to civilian politicians long accused in Pakistan of feathering their own nests while in power.