A Pakistani court on January 13 Monday canceled the death sentence handed down to former President Pervez Musharraf, declaring as unlawful the legal process that led to his conviction.
International media reports say former President Musharraf, 76, had challenged the formation a special three-judge tribunal which tried and found him guilty of treason in December for subverting the country’s constitution. The offense carries the death penalty under Pakistani laws.
Pervez Musharraf, who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai, reportedly denounced the judgment, saying it was the result of a “personal vendetta” and delivered without giving him or his lawyer permission to say “something in his defense.”
On Monday January 13, the high court in the Pakistani eastern city of Lahore responded to Musharraf’s appeal and overturned the verdict.
Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup and was president from 2001 to 2008.
The high treason trial of Musharraf, which began six years ago, stemmed from his suspension of the constitution in 2007 after imposing emergency rule in the country in a bid to cling to power. He also placed top judges, including the then-chief justice, under house arrest for opposing his rule. Musharraf later resigned as army chief and stepped down in early 2008 from the presidency.
According to BBC, the long-running case, which relates to General Musharraf's suspension of the constitution in 2007, could still be retried in another court.
