Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: FILE
Musharraf had stepped down from the chairmanship of APML last year in June.
Addressing a news conference at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Musharraf’s counsel Salman Safdar claimed that today’s verdict was taken in haste and without completing the legal obligations. “This case lacked fair trial… the whole prosecution was wrong from the beginning,” he said while reacting to the special court’s decision.
A three-judge bench — comprising judges of three high courts, Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim — convicted the former military ruler of treason and sentenced him to death earlier in the day.
Special court sentences Musharraf to death in high treason case
“This is the first verdict in the judiciary’s history which is annolunced in absence of the suspect and without giving him the right of defence,” said Safdar. “This verdict is even more controversial than the one given in the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case,” he added.
The former president’s lawyer said that fair trial was every citizen’s basic right. “Pervez Musharraf and even us didn’t expect this decision to be announced in such haste… all laws are ignored in today’s verdict,” he remarked.
Responding to a question, Safdar said Musharraf was critically ill and a statement through video recording was not an option in a high-profile case like this. “By not giving us the right to fair trial despite high court’s decision, basic rights are being usurped… all our pleas including that of forming a medical commission had been rejected,” he maintained.
Earlier in a press release, the party stated that they were ‘appalled’ by the court’s decision to announce the judgment without recording the former president’s statement.
APML to file appeal against special court’s decision
“We think this is an unconstitutional trial pursued in the most unconstitutional way without hearing his lawyer and giving them a chance to defend him,” read the press release.
The APML party said that during his stay in Pakistan, Musharraf was a law-abiding citizen and appeared before all the courts to face charges against him.
“We firmly believe that all the cases created against the former president have mala fide, and he is being made subject to political victimisation,” it stated.
The party maintained that the case was formed on “flimsy grounds where aiders and abettors were excluded from the case and its hearing and the former president was singled out, though the decision was taken after consultation with the cabinet members, chief ministers, governors and corps commanders”.
In a separate statement, APML Secretary-General Mehreen Malik said that Musharraf was ready to explore all legal options and would go to any length to get justice.
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