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Pakistan sentences Pervez Musharraf to death for high treason Pakistan sentences Pervez Musharraf to death for high treason
(about 4 hours later)
Former ruler, who no longer lives in country, was tried for imposing state of emergency in 2007Former ruler, who no longer lives in country, was tried for imposing state of emergency in 2007
A Pakistani court has sentenced the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death on charges of high treason and subverting the constitution. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military leader who seized power in a coup, has been sentenced to death on charges of high treason and subverting the constitution.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and later ruled as president, is not in Pakistan and was not available for comment on the sentence, handed down by an anti-terrorism court hearing the high treason case. Musharraf was on trial in absentia for charges relating to his suspension of the constitution in 2007 in his attempt to hold on to power.
“Pervez Musharraf has been found guilty of article 6 for violation of the constitution of Pakistan,” government law officer Salman Nadeem said. The trial was held in a closed anti-terrorism court in Islamabad and the full verdict was not made available. However, it was confirmed by government law officer Salman Nadeem who stated: “Pervez Musharraf has been found guilty of article 6 for violation of the constitution of Pakistan.”
The court’s full ruling was not available but it said in a summary it had analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case and had reached a majority verdict, with two of the three judges giving the decision against Musharraf. Defying multiple orders, Musharraf, 76, was not present in court to hear the verdict. He was allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 for medical treatment in Dubai and has remained there since.
The charges stem from Musharraf’s imposition of a state of emergency in 2007, when he was facing growing opposition to his rule. The ruling is highly significant in Pakistan, a country where the military has always held a huge amount of power in the government, even during civilian rule, and has a very close relationship with the current prime minister, Imran Khan. This is also the first time a military leader has been sentenced for subverting the constitution.
Under the emergency, all civil liberties, human rights and democratic processes were suspended from November 2007 to February 2008. Musharraf was head of the armed forces when he led a military coup in 1999 that toppled Nawaz Sharif. The overthrown prime minister was put on trial and eventually forced to flee the country in exile. Musharraf became president in 2001 and stayed in power for seven years, overseeing a period that became notorious for oppression and rampant human rights abuses, and during which he survived multiple assassination attempts.
He resigned later in 2008, after a political party that backed him fared poorly in a general election, and he has spent much of the time since then abroad. However, his decision to suspend the constitution in 2007 and impose emergency rule prompted mass protests and he was forced to resign in 2008 and move to self-imposed exile in London to avoid impeachment.
The final years of his rule were marked by struggles with the judiciary stemming from his wish to remain head of the army while also being president. The high treason legal proceedings began in 2014 after Sharif was re-elected prime minister.
Last month, Musharraf issued a video recording from a hospital bed in Dubai in which he said he was not being given a fair hearing in the case, which was filed by the government in 2013. Musharraf has long been adamant that the trial was politically motivated. Last month, he issued a video recording from a hospital bed in Dubai in which he said he was not being given a fair hearing in the case, which was filed by the government in 2013. “I served the nation and made decisions for the betterment of the country,” Musharraf said in the video.
“I served the nation and made decisions for the betterment of the country,” Musharraf said in the video clip.
Legal experts in Islamabad said Musharraf can challenge the order in the high court.Legal experts in Islamabad said Musharraf can challenge the order in the high court.
Musharraf sided with the US in its “war on terror” launched after 9/11. His decision was criticised by religious parties and ushered in years of Islamist violence in Pakistan.Musharraf sided with the US in its “war on terror” launched after 9/11. His decision was criticised by religious parties and ushered in years of Islamist violence in Pakistan.