UPDATE 2 - Pakistan: Ex-President Musharraf sentenced to death

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY MUSHARRAF'S LAWYER

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A special court in Islamabad on Tuesday slapped Pakistan's former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf with the death sentence in absentia.

A three-member bench of the special court, headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, delivered the verdict in the high treason case.

Former President Musharraf is currently undergoing treatment in the United Arab Emirates for several health conditions, including cardiac problem

His party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, vowed to challenge the verdict at the Supreme Court.

"We have decided to file and appeal against the judgement and we are consulting our legal team and shall announce our future course of action,” Mehrene Malik Adam, the party's general secretary, said in a press release.

His lawyer Salman Safdar told reporters in Islamabad that the judgment is "unfair" and "was delivered in a rush", underlining they would go to the appellate court.

"We were taken by surprise as we were not expecting that the court would deliver the verdict today. We were neither informed nor were we prepared for that," he said, claiming that he was not given a chance to plead his arguments in support of his client.

He even drew a parallel with the conviction of Pakistan former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979 following a controversial judgment by the high and supreme courts in a murder case.

Under the Pakistani law, Musharraf can appeal the judgment in the apex court within the next 30 days, said Ismat Mehdi, a senior lawyer from Karachi.

Since the special court was set up on Supreme Court orders, the apex court is the only forum where Musharraf can challenge the verdict, she told Anadolu Agency.

Opposition parties, including the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party, welcomed the court's "historic decision."

"This is a historic decision. This is the first time we have seen such a verdict," Bilawal Bhutto, the head of Pakistan Peoples Party, told reporters in Islamabad.

"This is a baby step towards transitioning to democracy in Pakistan."

Firdous Ashiq Awan, the prime minister's spokesman, told reporters that the government will "review in detail" the ruling.

This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a military chief has been declared guilty of high treason and been given the death sentence. The verdict was split 2-1, a majority verdict, with two of the three judges making the decision against Musharraf.

In March 2014, Musharraf was charged with high treason for implementing emergency rule and suspending the Constitution in 2007.

In August 2017, he was declared an "absconder" by Pakistan's anti-terrorism court in the verdict on the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto, a two-time prime minister.

The court, in its short ruling, said after analyzing complaints, records, arguments, and facts in the case for three months, it found Musharraf guilty of high treason according to Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Article 6 of Pakistan’s Constitution says: “Any person who abrogates or subverts 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."

Musharraf -- a former four-star general -- ran the country as president from 2001 until tendering his resignation, to avoid impeachment, in 2008.

In videos posted to his official Twitter account earlier this month, Musharraf blasted the treason charges as "absolutely baseless."

"I have served my country for 10 years. I have fought for my country. This [treason] is the case in which I have not been heard and I have been victimized," he said in the video.