Pakistani Court Sentences Ex-president to Death for Treason

A special anti-terrorism court in Islamabad has handed down a death sentence against Pervez Musharraf, who took control of Pakistan in 1999 as part of a military coup, later installing himself as president. The charges of high treason and subversion of the constitution resulted from a state of emergency he imposed in November 2007. The state of emergency saw the suspension of all civil liberties and democratic practices until the following February. Musharraf is currently in self-exile in Dubai. Last month he appeared in a video, complaining from a hospital bed that his trial in absentia was unfair. “I served the nation and made decisions for the betterment of the country,” he stressed. He resigned after clashing repeatedly with Pakistan’s top courts over his demand that he be allowed to remain chief of staff of the military while serving as president.