This is first time in History of PAK that a Military Chief has been declared guilty of high treason and handed a death sentence. The verdict was spilt 2-1.
Article 6 of the Constitution says: "Any person who abrogates or subverst or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of Force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason."
The punsihment of high treason is death or life time imprisonment, accordiong to High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973.
The tree - member bech of the special court - headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and comprising Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and Justice Shahid Karim of LHC - announced the long drawn high treason case against Musharraf after hearing final arguments today. A detailed verdict will be issued in 48 hours.
The former military chief is currently in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was admitted to a hospital following deteroration of his health earlier this month. In a video statement from his hospital bed, he called the treason case "absolutely baselss". His team can appeal today's verdict in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP). If the to court uphold the special court's verdict, the president possesses the constitutional authority under Article 45 to pardon a death row defendant.
The High treason trail of the former military dictator for imposiing the state of emergency on 3rd November 2007, had been pending since December 2013. Musharraf Came to power after ousting then Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif in a 1999 bloodless coup. In an infamous purge in 2007, Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and placed several key judges under house arest in Islamabad and elsewhere in Pakistan.
He was booked in the treason cas in December 2013, when the Pakistan Muslim Leauge Nawaz (PMLN) government under Nawaz Sharif returned to power Parvez Musharraf was indicted on 31 March 2014 and the prosecution had tabled the entire evidence beforethe special court in September the same year. However, due to litigation at appellate forums, the trial of the former Military dictator lingered on and the left Pakistan in March 2016 to seek medical treatment, to his beloved homeland in a few weeks.
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