ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf appeared Tuesday for the first time in front of a court tasked with deciding whether he committed high treason, a sharp blow for a man who was once the most powerful in Pakistan.

The appearance is also a blow to the prestige of the country’s powerful military establishment. Pakistan has undergone three military-led coups since its inception in 1947, and the institution and its leaders have often been perceived as above the law.

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