First man hanged in Mianwali jail in President Zardari’s term

In what appeared to be a first incident in the tenure of the ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) government, a convict on death row was hanged in Mianwali Jail on Thursday morning.

According to the media reports, Muhammad Hussain, an official of the Pakistan army had killed his senior officer Havaldar Khadim Hussain in 2008 when they were on leave.

There had been a de facto moratorium on executions since the PPP returned to power in 2008. Every three months the presidency issued a letter through respective home departments, staying all executions.

The home departments then issue instructions to provincial prisons department chiefs. It made Pakistan one of 36 countries in the world observing a moratorium on the death penalty.

Pakistan has one of the largest populations of condemned prisoners and inmates on death row in the world – 7,164 according to official prison records, and over 8,000 according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Deputy Superintendent (DSP) of Mianwali Jail, Muhammad Mansha said proceedings to court martial Hussain were initiated and the man was tried in the military court in Okara Cantonment, which sentenced him to death on February 12, 2009.

Hussain had subsequently filed mercy petitions to the General Headquarters (GHQ) and the Chief of Army Staff, but they were rejected. He also filed a mercy petition to President Asif Ali Zardari, but that was rejected too on December 30, 2011, DSP Mansha stated.

With the first execution in the ruling PPP’s tenure, the trend has been reversed. The last execution in any Pakistani jail took place under former president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure in 2007.

According to Amnesty International, 313 death sentences were handed out in 2011. But none of those convicted were executed.

According to Rule 101 of the Pakistan Prison Rules, “Every prisoner shall be at liberty to submit a petition to the government for clemency, and shall, if he desires, be accorded reasonable facilities for preparing and submitting such a petition.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=34990

Posted by Web Desk on Nov 15 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.