Pakistan court sentences former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death for treason
ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani court sentenced the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death Tuesday in a treason case related to the state of emergency he imposed in 2007 while in power.
It’s the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief and ruler of the country has been sentenced to death. Musharraf, who was sentenced in absentia, has been out of the country since 2016, when he was allowed to leave on bail to seek medical treatment abroad.
He has been living in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and is unlikely to travel home to face the sentence. Pakistan and the UAE have no extradition treaty and Emirati authorities are unlikely to arrest Musharraf. If he did return, Musharraf would have the right to challenge his conviction and sentence in court.
The ruling by a three-judge panel was not unanimous, and one of the judges opposed the death sentence, according to Akhtar Shah, one of Musharraf’s lawyers. Shah said he would appeal the sentence.
"Musharraf today sent me a message, saying he is ready to come to Pakistan, but his doctors are not allowing him to travel," the lawyer told The Associated Press after the ruling. He said Musharraf offered to give a statement to the court through a video link, but the request was denied.
A senior Supreme Court lawyer, Hamid Ali Khan, hailed the verdict as long overdue. "For the first time in the history of Pakistan ... a military dictator has been punished by a court of law," he said.
After the sentence was announced, Pakistani Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government would “review in detail” the verdict before commenting on it. Khan, who enjoys good ties with the country’s powerful military, is likely to return home from Geneva on Wednesday.
The military did not immediately react to the death sentence for Musharaf, a former army chief. Defense Minister Pervez Khattak said the ailing former dictator has the right to appeal.
Mehrene Malik Adam, the secretary-general of Musharraf’s small opposition party All Pakistan Muslim League, denounced the trial. "Legal requirements were not met, and our lawyers were not given the opportunity to present their case," she said.
In 2007, Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and placed several judges under house arrest in the capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in Pakistan. He came to power after ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999.
When he was back in office, Sharif accused Musharraf of treason in 2013. The general was formally charged in 2014.
Musharraf was hospitalized last week in Dubai, but the state of his health or a specific reason for this hospitalization was not announced. In a video message he released two weeks ago, Musharraf said he was ready to record his statement about the treason case for the court, but he was unable to travel to Pakistan.
In the video, Musharraf claimed the treason charges are baseless and said he served his country for 10 years.
"I have fought for my country," he said. "This is a case in which I have not been heard, and I have been victimized."
Sharif was ousted in 2017 and was convicted of corruption. He left Pakistan on bail this month to travel to London for medical treatment.
Sharif’s spokesman Ahsan Iqbal praised Tuesday’s ruling, saying Musharraf deserved the death sentence because he had ousted an elected government. "We welcome this court ruling," Iqbal said.
