Islamabad: A special Pakistani court Tuesday reserved its judgement in the high treason case against former dictator General Pervez Musharraf and said that the verdict will be announced November 28, according to media reports here.
The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against the 76-year-old ex-army chief Pervez Musharraf in 2013 over the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.
A three-member tribunal headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth conducted the hearing in the case about clamping the of emergency by Musharraf, November 3, 2007.
The court announced that the judgment would be given on November 28. It also directed the counsel of Musharraf to submit final arguments if any by November 26, the ‘Dawn News’ reported. If convicted, Musharraf may face death sentence.
Musharraf became Pakistan’s first army chief to be charged with treason when he was indicted, March 31, 2014. He pleaded not guilty to five charges and dismissed them as being politically motivated, ‘The Express Tribune’ reported.
The hearing in the high-profile case was stalled after Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016 for treatment with a commitment to come back. He managed to go abroad after his name was removed from the no-fly list or Exit Control List on the orders of the Supreme Court.
A few months later, however, the special court declared him a ‘proclaimed offender’ and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show at the hearings. Musharraf has repeatedly refused to return to Pakistan citing security reasons.
General Musharraf seized power in 1999 by toppling the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ruled until 2008 when he was forced to step down.
PTI