ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia for high treason on Tuesday, following a six-year legal case, in a landmark ruling for a country where the all-powerful military has ruled for about half its history since independence in 1947.
A three-member bench of a special court in Islamabad announced the 2-1 verdict, adding that a detailed judgment would be released in the next 48 hours.
The court convicted the 76-year-old former leader of suspending the constitution and unlawfully imposing emergency rule in 2007, for which he was indicted in 2014.
“The judgment is announced in haste, and the conviction of my client in absentia doesn’t have any legal foundation to stand on,” Musharraf’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, told Arab News, calling the sentence “unconstitutional and illegal” and the case “politically motivated”.
“Proper legal procedure was not followed to initiate the case in the first place,” he said.
“The sentence will be overturned in appeal [in a superior court],” he said, adding that he had yet to consult Musharraf on the next step forward.
Musharraf seized power in a 1999 military coup against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but stepped down nine years later amid mass protests.
He was in a self-imposed exile for several years but returned to Pakistan in 2013, after which Sharif filed the high treason case against him.
He was allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 for health reasons which his lawyer had argued at the time were preventing him from standing trial on treason and other charges.
Musharraf denies the charges. He currently resides in Dubai and was recently hospitalized for multiple issues.
In a video message released earlier this month, Musharraf said he was being victimized through the case.
“I have fought wars for Pakistan and served my country for ten years,” Musharraf said, terming the case “baseless.”
Meanwhile, Musharraf’s political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), said in a statement released on Tuesday that they were “appalled” at the verdict as it was announced, “without hearing him.”
“This case was formed on flimsy grounds, where aiders and abettors were excluded from the case and its hearing, and the former president was singled out in the high treason case,” Mehrene Malik Adam, general-secretary of the APML party said in a statement.
She added that the party has shown “reservations and concern” against the “one-sided” decision by the court, especially when the former president is under treatment and “fighting against the deadly disease.”
“We have decided to file an appeal against the judgment and we are consulting our legal team,” Adam added.
FASTFACT
1. October 1999 – Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup and remained in power until 2008.
2. November 2007 – He imposed a state of emergency in the country and imprisoned judges, including the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
3. Neither the Parliament nor any other court endorsed General Musharraf’s imposition of emergency, hence the act was considered as an offense.
4. November 20, 2013 – A special court was set up to prosecute Musharraf for his actions.
5. The court indicted Musharraf on March 31, 2014.
6. Musharraf was allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 on medical grounds.
7. June 19, 2016 – He was declared an absconder.
8. Special court reconstituted six times for different reasons.
