Pakistan Ulema Council terms Musharraf treason verdict 'un-Islamic'

Tahir Ashrafi says law of the land and Shariah provide no precedent of such a verdict

All Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Ashrafi said on Thursday that the special court’s judgement against former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf is against the Islamic constitution.

The three-judge bench – comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim – convicted the former president of high treason and sentenced him to death on Tuesday.

In the detailed judgement issued earlier in the day, the court “directed the law enforcement agencies to apprehend the fugitive/convict to ensure that the punishment is inflicted as per law, and if found dead, his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad, and be hanged for 3 days”.

Condemning the verdict, the PUC chief said the law of the land and Shariah provide no precedent of such a verdict "which is against the Islamic law."

Read: Detailed verdict issued in Musharraf treason case

Tahir Ashrafi said that the "trial of politicians and judges should also be conducted, if the former military ruler had subverted the Constitution" on November 3, 2007.

Moreover, the Pakistani military took strong exceptions to the special court’s detailed judgement, saying that they “know how to defend the honour and dignity of the institution” but were exercising restraint because for them, “the country comes first”.

“The detailed judgement, especially the choice of words, is beyond the basic values of religion, humanity and civilisation,” the chief military spokesperson, Major General Asif Ghafoor, told an unscheduled media briefing on Thursday – shortly after the special court issued its detailed judgement.

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said the words used were “aghast” and a “violation of the constitution”. She questioned where the country was headed with such “violent mindsets”.

Was not going to comment on the judgement - let the law take its course but this? Aghast. Is this the language of a senior judge? Even a layperson knows para 66 referring to dragging corpse etc is ultra vires the Constitution. Where are we headed with such violent mindsets? pic.twitter.com/HE87NJZqMa

— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) December 19, 2019