The Pakistani court’s sentence is unlikely to
be carried out because Mr. Musharraf is no longer in the country.
By
Salman Masood
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Pervez
Musharraf, center, addressing supporters in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2013.
Credit
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
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ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan — After years of
delays and disruptions, a special court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced the
country’s former military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, to death in a treason
case.
But the sentence is more symbolic in nature,
as Mr. Musharraf is currently in self-imposed exile in Dubai and is unlikely to
return to the country. Nevertheless, the sentence marked the first time in the
country’s history that a military dictator has been held accountable for his
actions while in power.
A three-member special court panel announced
that Mr. Musharraf “has been found guilty of Article 6 for violation of the
Constitution of Pakistan,” namely, high treason and subverting the
Constitution. Two judges decided in favor of the guilty verdict while one
disagreed.
Mr. Musharraf, 76, was accused of subverting
the country’s Constitution in 2007 when he imposed a state of emergency in the
country in an attempt to thwart a political opposition movement and also fired
much of the judiciary. The movement had greatly weakened Mr. Musharraf, and he
resigned in 2008 under a threat of impeachment.
The treason case was initiated in 2013 by the
government of Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister who has a history of
animosity toward the former military ruler. Mr. Musharraf toppled Mr. Sharif’s
government in 1999 in a bloodless coup and ruled until 2008.
But as Mr. Musharraf’s fortunes tumbled, Mr.
Sharif’s rose; he managed to make a political comeback and returned to power in
2013. Within months, his government announced that it was initiating a treason
case against the former military dictator.
Mr. Musharraf has denied the charges and
insisted that the case against him was a political vendetta. Officials in his
political party, All Pakistan Muslim League, said they planned to appeal
against the court sentence.
Hours after the verdict, the top military
commanders met at an emergency session at the General Headquarters of the
Pakistani army in Rawalpindi and in a sharply worded statement expressed
solidarity with their former chief.
The military said that the court decision was
received with a “lot of pain and anguish by the rank and file of Pakistan armed
forces.”
Mr. Musharraf, who held all top military
positions, and “fought wars for the country can surely never be a traitor,” the
statement read.
The treason case against Mr. Musharraf was
groundbreaking in many ways. None of the country’s military dictators had ever
before been held accountable for their actions. And Mr. Sharif sought to use
the treason case to assert civilian supremacy over the military, a powerful
institution in Pakistan.
The country’s military, however, balked at
the move.
Mr. Musharraf did not appear in the initial
proceedings of the treason case, and before one hearing, in 2014, his security
convoy was suddenly and mysteriously directed to a military hospital. Mr.
Musharraf was then hospitalized as he complained of chest pains, but it was
widely believed that the military was protecting its former chief from
prosecution.
In 2016, Mr. Musharraf was allowed to leave
the country for medical treatment. He said he would return and face the legal
cases, but he failed to do so.
Earlier this month, Mr. Musharraf released a
video message from a hospital in Dubai where he was undergoing medical
treatment and complained of being treated unjustly.
“I have served Pakistan all my life and I am
being tried for treason,” a frail and weak looking Mr. Musharraf said.
Mr. Musharraf once enjoyed broad support both
in Pakistan and abroad, and was considered an important ally of the United
States in its effort to root out terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror
attacks. But his popularity dropped sharply in 2007 as he tried to maintain his
grip on power and clashed with the country’s judiciary and political
opposition.
The Deputy South Asia Director of Amnesty
International, Omar Waraich, said in a statement that Mr. Musharraf and his
government officials must be held accountable but expressed reservations over
the death penalty.
“No one is above the law,” Mr. Waraich said.
But, he added, “the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment; it metes out vengeance, not justice.”
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