A Pakistani special court on Tuesday handed the death sentence to former military dictator Pervez Musharraf for high treason, marking judicial history in the country and establishing the supremacy of the judiciary over the powerful military establishment.

The 2:1 split verdict by an anti-terrorism court is the first in Pakistan’s history to convict a military ruler of treason or condemn an army chief to death.

Just weeks earlier, the country’s Supreme Court had reduced the service extension granted to the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, from three years to six months and nudged the government to pass laws to regulate such extensions.

Musharraf, who lives in self-exile in Dubai and is being treated for a life-threatening disease, expressed dismay at the verdict, calling the treason case “absolutely baseless”.

“I have served my country for 10 years. I have fought for my country. This is the case in which I have not been heard and I have been victimised,” he said in a video statement from his hospital bed.

But the verdict said that Musharraf, who had seized power in a coup in 1999 and ruled till 2008, had been given ample opportunities to return to the country to give his views in court but never turned up.

Musharraf can challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court within 30 days. A former Sindh High Court judge, Justice Mehmood Alam Rizvi, said the appeal can only be filed if Musharraf returns to Pakistan and personally appears in court.

The then Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government had filed the treason case in 2013, charging Musharraf with abrogating the Constitution twice — by toppling an elected government in October 1999, and proclaiming an emergency and ordering the arrest of senior judges in November 2007.

“Pervez Musharraf has been found guilty (under) Article 6 for violation of the constitution of Pakistan,” government law officer Salman Nadeem said.

Article 6 says: “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

There was no immediate reaction from the government of Imran Khan, who is in Geneva to attend a conference on refugees. His information czar, Firdous Aashiq Awan, said: “We will react to the verdict only after going through the (court) order.”

Most political parties welcomed the verdict, calling it a good omen for the democratic future of a country that has been ruled by the military for half of its 72-year history.

“Democracy is the best revenge,” Bilawal Bhutto, the young chief of the Pakistan People’s Party, said in a statement.

Senior PML(N) leader Ehsan Iqbal said: “The order will shut the doors to any future military interventions and no one will dare abrogate the Constitution.”

Senior journalist and legal expert Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui said the verdict would have a far-reaching impact on Pakistan and discourage military adventurers from subjugating democratically elected governments.

The verdict on Musharraf was reserved on November 19 and was originally to be announced on November 28. But on a petition from the PTI government, the Islamabad High Court stopped the special court from issuing the verdict and directed the government to notify a new prosecution team by December 5.

After the new prosecutors appeared before the special court on December 5, the bench fixed December 17 for the verdict. However, as the hearing began on Tuesday, the government prosecutors sought further delays.

Shortly before the verdict was passed, Lahore High Court recommended a full-bench hearing of Musharraf's plea for a stay on the trial.

But the special court bench of Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, Justice Nazar Akbar of Sindh High Court and Justice Shahid Karim of Lahore High Court decided to go ahead with the verdict.

Musharraf's rule was extremely controversial. Even his army colleagues accused him of repeatedly betraying them and taking unilateral decisions, especially after 9/11 when the US sought Pakistan’s support in the war against terror. Musharraf is accused of handing over several local and foreign high-value Western targets.

Additional reporting by Reuters and PTI