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Pakistan Court Overturns Death Verdict Against Ex-Military Ruler

Musharraf was convicted and sentenced for suspending the constitution, when he was the president in 2007.

Pakistan Court Overturns Death Verdict Against Ex-Military Ruler
File photo of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former president. (Source: Pakistan Press Information Department/Pool via Bloomberg News)

(Bloomberg) -- A Pakistan’s high court has said that a special court set up to try former military dictator and president Pervez Musharraf was illegal and consequently suspended the death sentence handed out to him in absentia for treason.

A three-judge panel of the Lahore High Court, headed by Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, announced the verdict on Monday saying procedure was not followed while forming the special court, Mohammad Azhar Siddiqui, Musharraf’s lawyer, said by phone.

Pakistan Court Overturns Death Verdict Against Ex-Military Ruler

The verdict -- a two-to-one majority -- given by the special court last month had drawn a strong reaction from the military that refused to accept the decision. Musharraf, who is undergoing medical treatment in Dubai, was convicted and sentenced for suspending the constitution, when he was the president in 2007.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kamran Haider in Islamabad at khaider2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Khalid Qayum, Muneeza Naqvi

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