Court reserves judgment in Musharraf case; verdict on Nov 28

Islamabad, November 19

A special Pakistani court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in the high treason case against former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf saying the verdict would be announced on November 28, according to media reports.

The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against the 76-year-old ex-army chief in 2013 over the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

A three-member tribunal headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth conducted the hearing in the case about clamping the state of emergency by Musharraf on November 3, 2007.

The court announced that the judgment would be given on November 28. It also directed the counsel of Musharraf to submit final argument, if any, by November 26, Dawn News reported.

If convicted, Musharraf may face death sentence.

Musharraf became Pakistan’s first army chief to be charged with treason when he was indicted on March 31, 2014. He pleaded not guilty to five charges and dismissed them as being politically motivated, The Express Tribune reported.

The hearing in the high-profile case was stalled after Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016.

Musharraf left Pakistan for Dubai for medical treatment on March 18, 2016 with a commitment to come back. He managed to go abroad after his name was removed from the no-fly list or Exit Control List on the orders of the Supreme Court.

A few months later, however, the special court declared him a “proclaimed offender” and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show at the hearings.

He has repeatedly refused to return to Pakistan citing security reasons.

His lawyer Akhar Shah said the former president could not appear in person due to security reasons. He also said that Musharraf’s health was not good and he was not allowed by the doctors in Dubai to travel.

Gen Musharraf seized power in 1999 by toppling the government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ruled until 2008 when he was forced to step down. PTI