Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death by a Pakistan court on Tuesday in the long-drawn high treason case against him.
A three-member bench of the special court headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad announced the decision.
In its short order, the court said that it had analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case for three months. The court had found Musharraf guilty of high treason according to Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
It was a majority verdict, with two of the three judges giving the decision against Musharraf.
One of the petitions had asked that the court make three individuals — former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Supreme Court chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and former law minister Zahid Hamid — suspects in the case.
“We want to make Musharraf’s facilitators and companions suspects as well. It is important that the trial of all suspects is held at the same time,” the prosecutor said.
Earlier, the special court hearing the high treason case against the former president had said it would announce the verdict on December 17 even if arguments of both sides were not completed by then.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) took up Musharraf’s petition against the special court hearing the high treason case against him as well as his civil miscellaneous application that urged the high court to halt the treason proceedings.
On Saturday, Musharraf filed an application in the Lahore High Court (LHC), urging it to stay the proceedings pending before a special court in Islamabad.
Earlier in the month, Musharraf was admitted to hospital in Dubai after he complained of “heart and blood pressure-related complications”. In May this year, Musharraf’s health deteriorated and was rushed to a hospital in Dubai.
In November, a special court in Islamabad reserved its verdict in the high treason case involving Musharraf.
In October, the Islamabad High Court had dismissed a petition that sought deletion of terrorism charges against the former president and transfer of the judges, detention case from the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATS) to the sessions court.
The former President has been seeking deletion of terrorism charges and subsequent transfer of his case from the ATC to the sessions court on the ground that initially the FIR was registered under the Pakistan Penal Code against him in connection with the detention of 60 judges of the superior judiciary after the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007.
Musharraf was declared a proclaimed offender by a special court in the high treason case.
Following the news, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted “Democracy is the best revenge. Jiye Bhutto”.
Democracy is the best revenge. Jiye Bhutto pic.twitter.com/L4wLEjUJTl
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) December 17, 2019
Earlier, Bilawal had accused Musharraf of being responsible for his mother’s murder.
Benazir Bhutto, who was twice elected as Pakistan’s prime minister, was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack shortly after addressing a political rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi while campaigning for elections in 2007.