On Tuesday, a special court headed by Peshawar High Court announced its guilty verdict against former dictator of Pakistan, Retired General Pervez Musharraf and declared him a traitor placed on death row under article 6 of the national Constitution.
The verdict against former former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf is being termed unprecedented because for the first time an army general has been given the death penalty.in Pakistan, reportedly.
Charges Against Pervez Musharraf
The treason case against general retired Parvaiz Musharraf began in December 2013 and has been lingering in court ever since. On Tuesday, under the leadership of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, a three-member team with a spilled verdict of 2:1 found the ex-president of Pakistan guilty of treason under article 6. According to article 6 of the Constitution, any person who tries to abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance the constitution or attempts or conspire to perform the acts as mentioned above by force or unconstitutional means will be charged with treason.
How Did The Ex-President Violate The Constitution
The retired general violated article 6 when he clapped a state of emergency in Pakistan on Nov 3, 2007, and held the Constitution in abeyance. Mass protests lead by all legal bodies of Pakistan broke out, demanding the retired general be removed from power. These protests soon turned violent in an attempt to sooth the raging flame the government started negotiations with the lawyers and judges. These negotiations ended in a deadlock, and more violent protests raged on.
To reestablish law and order, the government started a crackdown operation against all senior legal representatives and jailed them. To many legal experts, the treason verdict announced by the high court on Tuesday, may be influenced by the hostile treatment senior legal figures faced during his presidency.
Defence Lawyer on Musharraf Verdict
Despite the strong verdict that has been issued, there are still a lot of loopholes that can be used to challenge and revert the court’s verdict.
Journalists on Twitter explaining what the case was all about and which whether charges levied against him are justifiable.
Reactions to the Verdict
The way journalists, members of civil society, politicians and citizens are acting about the verdict is much predictable. A look at the reactions on social media shows that people are presenting it as if it is clash between judiciary and army. At the same times, people are advising that labelling special court’s decision in treason case against Musharraf as an attempt to sabotage the repute of Army is insane as acts of institutions can’t be held responsible for acts of individuals who are part of them.
Here is what the statement from DG ISPR regarding the verdict says.
While people are happy that high court has done a necessary thing to set a precedent they are also expressing that they didn’t want anyone to face the death penalty.
Celebrities who are famous for their stances on such matter were coming up with cherry picked qoutes to defend what might have seemed indefensible.
