Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death after being found guilty of high treason.
The case was brought against the ex-president for imposing a state of emergency in the country in 2007, suspending the constitution and detaining politicians and judges as his grip on power began to slip.
Pakistan's anti-terrorism court sentenced Musharraf to death on charges of high treason and subverting the constitution, a senior government official said.
The former dictator is now living in self-exile in Dubai and was found guilty in his absence despite attempts to halt the proceedings while insisting he was innocent.
Musharraf, now aged 76, was an army chief when he seized power in a 1999 coup.
He ruled until 2008 when he was forced to resign under the threat of impeachment, beginning a period of self-exile in London until he returned to Pakistan.
The high treason case was brought against him by ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and began in 2014.
Government law officer Salman Nadeem said after the sentence was handed out on Tuesday: "Pervez Musharraf has been found guilty of Article 6 for violation of the constitution of Pakistan."
Musharraf is now living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates after travelling there in 2016 for "medical treatment".
He was admitted to a hospital there in March.
Musharraf had challenged the special court verdict and tried to halt the trial in his absence.
He asked the High Court in Lahore to put a stop to the proceedings until he was healthy enough to appear.
Musharraf had denied the charges.
The court's full ruling was not available but it said in a summary it had analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case and had reached a majority verdict, with two of the three judges giving the decision against Musharraf.
The charges stem from Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency in 2007, when he was facing growing opposition to his rule.
Under the emergency, all civil liberties, human rights and democratic processes were suspended, from November 2007 to February 2008.
He resigned later in 2008, after a political party that backed him fared poorly in a general election, and he has spent much of the time since then abroad.
The final years of his rule was marked by struggles with the judiciary stemming from his wish to remain head of the army while also being president.
Last month, Musharraf issued a video recording from a hospital bed in Dubai in which he said he was not being given a fair hearing in the case that was filed by the government in 2013.
"I served the nation and made decisions for the betterment of the country," Musharraf said in the video clip.
Legal experts in Islamabad said Musharraf can challenge the order in the High Court.
Musharraf sided with the United States in its "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks.
His decision was criticised by religious parties and ushered in years of Islamist violence in Pakistan.
Hanging is the only legal method for executions in Pakistan.
Executions fell from at least 60 in 2017 to at least 14 in 2018, according to Amnesty International.
However, it said death sentences were known to have been imposed last year after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards.
