A special court in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad on Tuesday reserved its verdict in a treason case filed against the country's former president and now retired army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, media reports said.
The decision to reserve the verdict against Musharraf was taken by a three-judge bench of a special court. Led by Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, the bench said it will deliver its verdict on 28 November.
Musharraf seized power from then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through a military coup on 12 October, 1999, when the latter was reportedly about to sack him from the post of the army chief.
Musharraf led a military-dominated government as army chief till 2007. He nominated himself as Pakistan’s 10th president on 20 June, 2001, and secured himself in that position till 18 August, 2008, through a controversial referendum held on 1 May, 2002.
He was forced out of office when threatened with impeachment, living in a self-imposed exile until 2013.
Musharraf became Pakistan’s first army chief and president to be charged with treason on 31 March, 2014, for imposing a state of emergency on 3 November, 2007, in a bid to end challenges to his rule by a hostile judiciary, Islamist militants and political rivals.
He pleaded not guilty to five charges and dismissed them as being politically motivated. The trial, however, could not be concluded over the past six years for several reasons.
After escaping Pakistan in March 2016, the former army chief has been purportedly undergoing medical treatment in Dubai.
