ISLAMABAD, Pakistan The Supreme Court on Monday upheld death sentences for 12 soldiers and civilians accused in December 2003 bombings against Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that killed at least 16 other people. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court in Islamabad upheld the sentences passed down by military courts, Chief Justice Iftikar Muhammad Chaudhry said.Earlier this year, a High Court in Lahore had also rejected appeals by the convicts, on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction to hear cases already decided by a military court. "For the reasons to be recorded later on, the impugned order of Lahore High Court is maintained, consequently the appeals are dismissed," Chaudhry said, reading a written verdict in the court in Islamabad on Monday.
Musharraf narrowly escaped two bombings targeting his limousine in the garrison city of Rawalpindi within 11 days in December 2003. In the second blast, a suicide attack, at least 16 people died, mostly police.
The accused include three low-ranking air force personnel, an army soldier, and seven civilians. Defense lawyer Mohammed Akram argued in the court that the High Court had the jurisdiction to hear the defendants' appeals. A lawyer for the Defense Ministry, Mujaeeb ur Rehman, argued that it did not and to do so would be unconstitutional.
Musharraf has survived at least three known assassination attempts, all blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants. The alleged mastermind of the December 2003 attacks, Libyan al-Qaida leader Abu Farraj al-Libbi, was handed over to the United States.