LHC suspends hanging of five prisoners on death row
By Web Desk
Published: December 22, 2014
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench on Monday decided to suspend the
execution of five prisoners convicted of terrorism, Express News reported.
According to Express News correspondent Qaiser Shirazi, the relatives of the five prisoners on death row had said the prisoners had not yet issued an appeal against the decision of their execution.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday declared the death warrants of two convicts illegal, postponing their execution in Sukkar Central Jail. According to death warrants issued by anti-terrorism (ATC) courts, the convicts were supposed to be executed on December 23.
The court also granted permission to transfer both convicts from the Sukkur Central Jail to Karachi Central Jail.
The court said that according to jail rules executions are to be carried out only seven days after the issue of the black warrants.
Families of the convicts had filed an appeal with the Sindh High Court claiming that the death warrants are unlawful since there is already a plea for mercy under hearing in the Supreme Court.
A SHC division bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto heard the appeal. The court directed the ATC to issue new warrants.
The moratorium on death penalty in terrorism-related cases was lifted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after the horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.
Further, just a day ago, four convicts involved in an attack on former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf were hanged at a district jail in Faisalabad.
Prior to this, two other convicted terrorists - Mohammed Aqeel, a former member of the army’s medical corps, who goes by the alias of Dr Usman and Arshad Mehrban - were hanged at the Faisalabad District Jail.
Aqeel was among the seven people convicted for their role in the attack on Army headquarters in Rawalpindi. Whereas Mehrban had been convicted for his involvement in the attack on former president General Pervez Musharraf.
LHC suspends hanging of five prisoners on death row – The Express Tribune
Pathetic indeed... This is not because of their (dishonorable Justice's) love for justice, but animosity against Gen. Musharraf. We need to impose emergency until operation Zrb-e-Azb is concluded, and as many terrorists are sent to hell as possible otherwise these courts will keep preventing terrorists from meeting their well-deserved fate.