Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Given Death Penalty In High Treason Case

This is the first time in the country's history that a military chief has been declared guilty of high treason and handed a death sentence, media reports said.

FILE PHOTO/ PTI

New Delhi: A  special court has handed death penalty to Pakistan’s former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in high treason case, media reported on Tuesday. As per a report in The dawn, this is the first time in the country's history that a military chief has been declared guilty of high treason and handed a death sentence. A three-member bench of the special court, headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, handed the death sentence to the 76-year-old former dictator, for suspending the Constitution and imposing emergency rule in 2007. The special court had indicted Gen (Retd) Musharraf for high treason in March 2014, over the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

#BREAKING | A special court hands #death penalty to former Pakistani military dictator #PervezMusharraf in high treason case: #Pakistan Mediahttps://t.co/YedDo1B6iK pic.twitter.com/jEgF8uJI9Z

— ABP News (@ABPNews) December 17, 2019

The special court comprising Justice Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court announced the verdict it had reserved on November 19, the Dawn newspaper reported. The treason case was filed against Musharraf by the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. Watch here: Death penalty to Pervez Musharraf for imposing emergency The high treason trial of the former leader for clamping the state of emergency on November 3, 2007, had been pending since December 2013, reports Dawn news. The special court earlier this month had said that it would announce the verdict in the case on December 17. The court on November 19 concluded the trial proceedings in the case against Musharraf for declaring a state emergency on November 3, 2007. The court was scheduled to announce the verdict on November 28 on the basis of the available record but the Islamabad High Court halted the verdict announcement after Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government filed a petition against the announcement. Citing deteriorating health condition, Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016 to "seek medical treatment" and has not returned since. Earlier this year,  Musharraf did not turn up for the treason trial against him in the month of May, citing deteriorating health. The special court had then accepted his plea to postpone the hearing until after the month of Ramazan.