With the powerful Pakistan Army publicly backing former dictator Pervez Musharraf after he was sentenced to death for treason, Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed the issue with his top party aides on Wednesday even as his government decided to support the retired General’s appeal against the “unfair” verdict.
Former Pakistan President and military ruler Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia on Tuesday for high treason following a six-year legal case. He has been living in Dubai since 2016 after Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifted a travel ban allowing him to leave the country to seek medical treatment.
A three-member special court here convicted 76-year-old Musharraf of violating the Constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule while he was in power, in a case that had been pending since 2013.
Prime Minister Khan, who returned from Geneva, chaired an emergency meeting of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s core committee where he was briefed by two senior lawyers about the sentence given to Musharraf.
Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting, Firdous Ashiq Awan, told the media that Barrister Ali Zafar and Advocate Babar Awan briefed the party leaders about the special court’s decision against Musharraf.
“It has been decided that legal team of the party will brief the Cabinet before taking a formal stance over the matter after taking in-depth view of the court’s judgment,” she said.
Following Musharraf’s sentencing, the Pakistan Army said that its former chief can “never be a traitor” and the verdict against him has been received with “lot of pain and anguish” by the Armed Forces personnel.
“The due legal process seems to have been ignored including constitution of special court, denial of fundamental right of self defence, undertaking individual specific proceedings and concluding the case in haste,” Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a statement.
“Armed Forces of Pakistan expect that justice will be dispensed in line with Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Ghafoor stressed, piling pressure on the Government. Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa also weighed in and said the armed forces have brought stability by failing all inimical forces operating against the country. Gen Bajwa made a symbolic visit to the headquarters of the military’s Special Services Group (SSG) where he praised their contributions towards defence of the country since the creation of Pakistan.
Musharraf served in the elite SSG from 1966-1972 and during the 1971 Pak-India war, he was a company commander of an SSG commando battalion.