Four civilians who were sentenced to death by a military court for involvement in an assassination bid on President Gen Pervez Musharraf appealed to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday. Zubair Ahmed, Rashid Qureshi, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti and Ikhlas Ahmed, who are presently confined in Attock district jail, were arrested in December 2003 and January 2004 for involvement in the assassination attempt on Gen Musharraf on December 25, 2003. Army intelligence authorities investigated them and then presented a joint summary of evidence in October-November 2004. The accused were challaned and jointly tendered for trial before a Field General Court Martial. The trial was conducted from March 29 to July 21, 2005. The court sentenced the four to death while two others, Rana Naveed and Aamir Sohail, were sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 years in jail respectively.The appeals of the death convicts were rejected by the military court of appeals. Now they have invoked the jurisdiction of the high court. The defence secretary and federal government have been made respondents in the case. The joint petition, filed by advocate Hashmat Habib and Colonel (r) Muhammad Akram, contends that civilians cannot be tried by a military court under the Pakistan Army Act. The accused also contend that the maximum punishment under the framed charges is life imprisonment and not death sentence under the Pakistan Penal Code.