Pakistan's Attorney General questions Musharraf death sentence, supporters protest
Record ID:
1448927
Pakistan's Attorney General questions Musharraf death sentence, supporters protest
- Title: Pakistan's Attorney General questions Musharraf death sentence, supporters protest
- Date: 18th December 2019
- Summary: VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) SECRETARY GENERAL OF ALL PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (APML), NAJMA ASLAM MENAI, SAYING: "Pervez Musharraf was the Army Chief, he was also the President of our Party. He served the nation for 40 years, and fought three wars. How can he be a traitor? He cannot be a traitor. Those who are calling him a traitor are traitors themselves. I feel like crying for our leader. My heart is burning because they are accusing our leader of treason."
- Embargoed: 1st January 2020 16:28
- Keywords: attorney general courts death sentence musharraf pakistan
- Location: KARACHI, ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE, PAKISTAN
- City: KARACHI, ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003BAI74G7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Pakistan on Wednesday (December 18) against the death sentence handed out to former President Pervez Musharraf by an anti-terrorism court a day earlier.
A Pakistani court sentenced Musharraf in absentia on Tuesday (December 17) on treason charges stemming from his imposition of a state of emergency in 2007.
In Karachi, around 200 supporters of Musharraf's All Pakistani Muslim League (APML) party gathered in a main market square, carrying banners praising Musharraf and chanting slogans.
Musharraf, 76, is the first former army chief to be charged with treason in Pakistan and has said the powerful military helped him get out of the country.
Attorney-General for Pakistan, Anwar Mansoor Khan, on Tuesday (December 17) said the high treason case against the former president had been "void from the beginning" and questioned the death penalty which was given in absentia.
The Attorney General's remarks came during a joint news conference with the government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan in Islamabad late on Tuesday (December 17) night.
In a strongly worded statement, the army said the ruling had caused "pain and anguish" in the ranks and added that "the due legal process seems to have been ignored."
Students and teachers of the Punjab University marched through the streets of Lahore in support of the Pakistan army and Musharraf. Smaller protests were reported from various cities across Pakistan.
(Production: Sheree Sardar) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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