Ex-ruler Musharraf sentenced to death by court

A COURT in Pakistan has sentenced the country’s former military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, to death.

The sentence comes after a treason case related to the state of emergency he imposed in 2007 while in power, officials said.

It is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief and ruler of the country has been sentenced to death.

Gen Musharraf, who was sentenced in absentia, has been out of the country since 2016, when he was allowed to leave on bail to seek medical treatment abroad.

He has been living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and is said to be very ill and unlikely to travel home to face the sentence.

Pakistan and the UAE have no extradition treaty and Emirati authorities are unlikely to arrest Gen Musharraf.

If he was to return, however, he would have the right to challenge his conviction and sentence in court.

The ruling by a three-judge panel was not unanimous and one of the judges had opposed the death sentence, according to one of the lawyers for Gen Musharraf.

Mr Shah said: “Musharraf today sent me a message, saying he is ready to come to Pakistan but his doctors are not allowing him to travel.”

A senior Supreme Court lawyer, Hamid Ali Khan, hailed the verdict as long overdue. “For the first time in the history of Pakistan ... a military dictator has been punished by a court of law,” he said.

After the sentence was announced, Pakistan’s information minister, Firdous Ashiq Awan, told reporters that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government would “review in detail” the verdict before commenting on it.