The special court, which had found General (retd) Pervez Musharraf guilty over high treason charges earlier this week, issued its detailed verdict on Thursday.A copy of the detailed verdict has been handed to an official of the Ministry of Interior.On Tuesday, the court had sentenced Musharraf to death for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, adding that it had found him guilty of high treason in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.The case was heard by a bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court and Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court.
“We with the majority of 02 as to 01 allow the complaint and hold the acused guilty of high tyreson as defined at article 6 of the COnstitution and pass punishment under s. 2 High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, thus the Convict be hanged by his neck till he is dead,” the 169-page order authored by Justice Seth read.
It was a majority verdict, with two of the three judges giving the decision against Musharraf.
Justice Nazar Akbar has written a 44-page dissenting note while the judgement comprises of 25 pages.
Soon after the short order was issued on Tuesday, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor made a statement, saying that the death penalty verdict was received with a “lot of pain and anguish” by Pakistan Army.
The federal government, too, had expressed its reservations, saying the requirements for a fair trial under Article 10-A were not fulfilled in the case.
Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan had made it clear that the government will not oppose an appeal against the special court’s verdict.
High treason case
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against Musharraf in November 2007.
Head of the prosecution, Mohammad Akram Sheikh had tendered his resignation in 2018. In his resignation letter sent to the interior secretary, Sheikh expressed his inability to proceed with the case after the imminent change of government at the centre.
Sheikh was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case in November 2013, by the then-PML-N government.
The former army chief was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court. He had rejected all the charges.
On March 18, 2016, the former president left Pakistan for Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the exit control list on the orders of the Supreme Court.
A few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his continuous inability to appear.
Later, his passport and identity card were also cancelled on the orders of the apex court.
Related:
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Musharraf treason verdict is biased, says former AG Irfan Qadir
