Former Pakistan Prime Minister General Pervez Musharraf sentenced to death

Pakistan's former military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, has been sentenced to death at a special court hearing in Islamabad.

General Musharraf is the first military ruler to ever stand trial in Pakistan for overruling the constitution.

The former military leader first seized power in a military coup in 1999 and served as the country's president from 2001 to 2008.

The charges of high treason were brought against him in 2013 after he suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule in November 2007, before resigning in 2008 to avoid the threat of impeachment.

However, when Nawaz Sharif - an old rival whom he deposed in the coup in 1999 - was elected prime minister in 2013, he initiated a treason trial against General Musharraf.

A three-member court sentenced him over a high treason charge that has been pending since 2013.

The verdict was announced Tuesday with a 2-1 majority.