Pakistan court hands death sentence to ex-president Musharraf

Pakistan court on Tuesday handed former president Pervez Musharraf a death sentence on the charge of high treason relating to the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

A three-member bench of the special court, headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth announced its reserved verdict, according to a daily paper in Pakistan.

The 74-year-old former army chief has been living in Dubai in self-imposed exile, where he is said to be undergoing treatment for Amyloidosis, a serious health problem caused by the abnormal protein amyloid that builds up in tissues and organs affecting their shape and function.

Musharraf, who ruled from 2001 till his resignation to avoid impeachment in 2008, was booked for high treason in 2013 over the imposition of emergency rule, suspension the constitution in 2007 and firing of chief justice of supreme court and confinement of judges as means to get re-elected.

After Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) garnered the highest votes in the 2008 general elections, PPParty and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz decided to impeach him if he refuses to step down based on his seizure of power in 1999, imprisoning and forcing Nawaz Sharif to exile and declaration of emergency.

He returned to Pakistan in 2013 but was kept under house arrest in connection with the murder of Benazir Bhutto. He was later granted bail and allowed to travel abroad.