Islamabad — A top Pakistani opposition leader critical of President Pervez Musharraf for his 1999 coup was convicted Monday of trying to incite an army rebellion and sentenced to 23 years in prison, the public prosecutor said.
Javed Hashmi, leader of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy coalition, was convicted of sedition, mutiny and forgery in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad, Munir Ahmed Bhatti said.
Mr. Hashmi, who also heads the Pakistan Muslim League party, also was fined the equivalent of almost $1,000 Canadian, Mr. Bhatti said.
The trial was held in prison for security reasons, and journalists were not allowed to cover the proceedings.
Opposition senators, including those from Mr. Hashmi's party, walked out of a Parliament session to protest against the court ruling.
"Javed Hashmi has been targeted today. Tomorrow, it is going to be someone else. This will never stop. This is murder of justice," Senator Ishaq Dar, from the Pakistan Muslim League, said in the upper house of Parliament.
Mr. Hashmi, a member of the lower house of Parliament, was arrested Oct. 29, days after publicizing a letter purportedly written by an army officer criticizing General Musharraf's policy of supporting the U.S.-led war against terrorism in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The letter also demanded a probe into the limited 1999 war fought by Pakistan and rival India over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Gen. Musharraf was military chief of staff at the time.
Mr. Hashmi became one Gen. Musharraf's most vocal critics after the military leader ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. Mr. Hashmi demanded that Gen. Musharraf be tried for treason for subverting the constitution.
A Muslim League party spokesman said the conviction would be appealed.
"The way the trial was carried out in jail shows that the judiciary is not independent. This decision is the darkest chapter added to the history of judiciary in Pakistan," spokesman Sadique al-Farooq said.
