Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan court in the high treason case, according to Pakistani media reports.
The former military dictator was sentenced to death today by a three-member bench of a special court in the long-drawn high treason case against him for suspending the constitution and imposing emergency rule in the country in November 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.
Pervez Musharraf, 76, has been living in exile in Dubai since March 2016 after he left Pakistan for medical treatment and has not returned since citing health and security. Since then, he has spent most of his time between Dubai and London. In March, he was admitted to a hospital in Dubai after suffering from an ailment.
परवेज़ मुशर्रफ़ को फांसी की सज़ा सुनाए जाने पर भड़के उनके वकील...
— BBC News Hindi (@BBCHindi) December 17, 2019
वीडियो: शहजाद मलिक, बीबीसी उर्दू pic.twitter.com/KgNtD96un8
The treason case against Pervez Musharraf was initiated by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The trial was pending since 2013.
The 2007 emergency had sparked protests against Musharraf, leading to his resignation in the face of impeachment proceedings.
The special court had ordered Musharraf to record statement by December 5. The three-judge bench announced the verdict it had reserved on November 19, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Musharraf had challenged the special court verdict and sought suspension of his trial in his absence. He asked the Lahore High Court to suspend the special court's reserved verdict until he is healthy enough to appear before the court.
"Musharraf wanted to record his statement and was ready to visit Pakistan but he wanted foolproof security which was not provided," his lawyer Akhtar Shah said. "He is still in Dubai and sick."
Musharraf’s conviction for treason and the death sentence is a first-of-its-kind verdict in Pakistan where the military retains a strong influence on the government and its leadership.
In a statement that came after the country’s military leadership went into a huddle to formulate its response, Tuesday evening’s statement by the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations slammed the verdict that it said, had been received a lot of pain and anguish by the rank and file of Pakistan Armed Forces.
It also faulted the way the verdict had been arrived at and sent a sharp message to the judiciary to make amends. “The armed forces of Pakistan expect that justice will be dispensed in line with the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the army, which has ruled Pakistan for half of its 72 year history, said.
