The former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf has been handed death penalty by a Special Court in Pakistan in a high treason case. With this, he becomes the first military ruler to receive the capital punishment in the country’s history.
A three-member bench of the special court headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth handed Musharraf the death sentence in a long-drawn high treason case against him for suspending the Constitution and imposing emergency rule in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.
The former Army chief left for Dubai for medical treatment in March 2016 and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons. The special court came out with the verdict it had reserved on November 19 last.The special court’s order came despite an earlier Islamabad High Court (IHC) order stopping it from issuing the verdict.
The IHC’s order had come on November 27, a day before the special court was to announce its verdict. On Saturday last, in an application filed by his advocates, Musharraf asked the Lahore High Court (LHC) to stay the trial at the special court until his earlier petition pending adjudication by the High Court was decided.
