Pakistan: Musharraf gets death penalty for imposing emergency in 2007
A three-justice bench of a special court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced former Pakistan dictator general Pervez Musharraf to death in a case of high treason. Musharraf was accused of abrogating the constitution.
Musharraf is the second Pakistan president to be awarded the death penalty. Former president and prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was executed in 1979 during the regime of then dictator Zia-Ul-Haq.
The case against Musharraf was related to his decision to impose a state of emergency in November 2007, after protests. Musharraf stepped down the following year when impeachment charges were raised against him.
The case of high treason was filed against Musharraf in December 2013. Musharraf is currently in Dubai, having left Pakistan in 2016.
Dawn reported that the trial of Musharraf had been long drawn out though he was indicted in March 2014. The special court was formed on orders of the Pakistan Supreme Court.
Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth led the special court bench, which comprised Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court.
The court also got petitions to make three former officials suspects. They were former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Supreme Court chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and former law minister Zahid Hamid.
Musharraf, who was Pakistan Army chief during the Kargil war, took power in a military coup in 1999. He led Pakistan at the time of the US invasion of Afghanistan, providing bases to the US war effort.
