With one of the co-conspirators Qari Saifullah turning an "approver" (government witness), the military court determined that Abbasi was not the main plotter in the attempted coup and was therefore given a lighter sentence of only 7 years as compared to the other army officers like Brigadier Mustansir BiLLAH who were convicted for terms up to 14 years. The coup was not considered serious enough to grant a death sentence to any of the plotters. Qari Saifullah was not convicted as a part of the deal with the government for his becoming a witness.