Amnesty International expresses concern over death sentence to Musharraf

WASHINGTON: Amnesty International, a leading campaigner for human rights, has expressed concern over death sentence awarded to former president Pervez Musharraf in a high treason case, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Responding to the conviction Amnesty International in a statement said that it is crucial that the former military ruler receives a fair trial “without recourse to the death penalty.”

Amnesty has been campaigning for decades for the abolition of death penalty in the world.

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment; it metes out vengeance, not justice,” said the statement while explaining the group’s position on this issue.

The special court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to former president Pervez Musharraf in high treason case against him.

The special court, headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth decided the high treason case with 2-1 split verdict against Musharraf.

The high treason trial for imposing the state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007, had been pending since December 2013. Musharraf was indicted on March 31, 2014.

The former military chief is presently admitted at a hospital in Dubai in a serious condition.