On today a special court in Pakistan sentenced former Pakistani President and Army Chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to death for treason under “Article 6”.
A three-member special court, headed by Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, in Islamabad heard a serious treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf. Prosecutor Ali Zia Bajwa appeared in court and filed a petition filed by the government against Pervez Musharraf to amend the crime.
A three-member bench of the special court passed the verdict with a majority of two, while one judge disagreed.
The court says that General Pervez Musharraf is guilty of Article 6, detailed judgment will be pronounced within 48 hours.
Earlier today, a special treason case was heard in the special court against former President General Pervez Musharraf, during which the court rejected the request to include names of the accused in the case.
Article 6:
Under Article 6 of the Constitution in Pakistan, breaking the constitution and assisting in this task is a crime of ‘serious rebellion’ from the state whose punishment is execution.
The PML-N filed a defamation lawsuit against Musharraf in 2013. The accused Pervez Musharraf refused to appear before the special court and appeared only once. The court on March 31, 2014, charged him with treason. In 2016, he went abroad for medical treatment since which he did not return home.
The court declared Musharraf’s continued absence and failure to appear and confiscated all his assets in the country after which he was sentenced to death on December 17, 2019.
Execution Decision:
The court issued a short verdict on the treason of the treason from the constitution and sentenced Pervez Musharraf to a death sentence and detailed judgment will be pronounced within 48 hours. A special court consisting of three judges ruled by a majority of two.
On October 12, 1999, Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf imposed military law in the country, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and became president on June 20, 2001, through a presidential referendum.
On November 3, 2007, Pervez Musharraf imposed an emergency in the country, suspending the constitution and banning the media, while Chief Justice Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry, including the Supreme Court and all the High Court judges, were detained in their homes.
General Rehman Pervez Musharraf moved abroad in 2016 after being named from the Exit Control List (ECL) on a court order.
Request to make more suspects:
The government has requested that more persons be charged in the serious treason case. Shaukat Aziz, Abdul Hameed Dogar, and Zahid Hamid have been made accused. Prosecutors said that all the accused must go to trial, but also wanted to make Musharraf’s facilitators and associates suspected.
The court ruled that the Supreme Court had also ruled on the request of Pervez Musharraf’s co-accused, who was given two weeks’ time to issue a revised charge sheet.
FIA investigates Musharraf:
According to sources, the FIA investigated the serious treason case against Pervez Musharraf, during which the FIA also contacted the Defense Ministry.
Sources said that the FIA also took statements of former Governor Punjab Khalid Maqbool, former Secretary Establishment, former Secretary Cabinet, and other persons during the investigation of the case against Pervez Musharraf.
Sources further said that the investigation into the FIA was initiated by Khalid Qureshi, the head of the Anti-Terrorism Wing, while at one stage the current deputy chairman, Hussain Asghar, was also involved in the investigation.
