Pakistan’s former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced in absentia to death for high treason. The former leader seized power in a military coup in 1999 and ruled Pakistan as president until 2008. He is now living in self-imposed exile in Dubai. The high treason conviction stems from Musharraf’s decision to declare emergency rule while in power, in violation of the Constitution. Today’s ruling marks the first time in Pakistan’s history that an Army chief has been convicted of treason.