Pakistani military chief says Musharraf judgement ‘transgresses humanity, religion & culture,’ prompting lawyers’ condemnation

A spokesman for the Pakistani military has blasted the judgement of a special court which sentenced ex-President Pervez Musharraf to death. The bar council said the criticism is contempt of court.

The Pakistani Army and the legal community clashed over the treason sentence handed down to the former president and retired general. The military voiced their “anguish” after the sentence was announced in Islamabad on Tuesday. With the full text of the judgement released on Thursday, the army upped its rhetoric, saying it proved their reservations about the ruling were correct.

Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, the head of the Pakistani military’s public relations branch, held a brief press conference to denounce the judgement, saying it “transgresses humanity, religion, culture, and any other values.”

The Pakistan Bar Council condemned the general’s remarks, saying it violated the law and amounted to contempt of the special court.

“Army clearly gives an impression that all the institutions in Pakistan are subservient to the armed forces, to follow its dictation and there is no respect for any other forum including the judiciary,” the legal body said in a statement.

General Ghafoor didn’t explain which part of the document drew such ire. A lot of debates were sparked over a part of the text which said if Musharraf is found dead before being executed, then his body should be “dragged” to a square outside the national parliament in Islamabad and “hanged for three days.”

Many people said the vindictive language had no place in a court ruling. Law Minister Farogh Naseem stressed that a judge giving such a judgment “is mentally unfit and incompetent.” Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier said he had doubts about the verdict and believed Musharraf’s trial may not have been fair.

Musharraf obtained power in a bloodless military coup in 1999. The treason charges against him stem from his decision to impose a state of emergency in 2007 as he sought reelection as president. The three-judge court said that was a violation of the constitution. Musharraf currently resides in Dubai and is said to be in poor health.

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