Home Latest News Pakistan Hangs 19th Militant Since Dec. 16

Pakistan Hangs 19th Militant Since Dec. 16

by AFP
Filippo Monteforte—AFP

Filippo Monteforte—AFP

An anti-terror court canceled Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant Ikramul Haq’s pardon.

Pakistan on Saturday hanged a sectarian militant whose execution was cancelled but later reinstated after a court rejected a pardon from his victim’s family, officials said.

The hanging brings to 19 the number of executions Pakistan has carried out since it lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases following a school massacre last month.

Ikramul Haq, a member of banned Sunni militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was hanged in Lahore early on Saturday morning. He had been sentenced to death by an anti-terror court in 2004 for killing a Shia Muslim three years earlier.

Police, prison officials and defense lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Mangan confirmed the execution. The victim’s family had pardoned him on Jan. 8 just before his scheduled hanging, but a court later rejected the compromise.

“The victim’s family had pardoned my client, but the court rejected it and while we were appealing against the decision, my client was hanged,” said Mangan.

Murder can be forgiven under Pakistani law in exchange for blood money, while rival militant groups may choose to pardon each others’ convicted killers.

The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on Pakistan to re-impose its moratorium on the death penalty, which ran from 2008 until December 2014. Rights campaigners say Pakistan overuses its anti-terror laws and courts to prosecute ordinary crimes. There are also concerns that death row convicts from non-terror related cases could be executed.

Related Articles

1 comment

Usman Khan January 18, 2015 - 6:15 am

Good Riddance. If this was Israel, the government would have gone after the Killer’s families as well. To bad Pakistan is a country where the government only wants to hurt the bad guy but the bad guys want to hurt anyone they can even if it is a five year old.

Reply

Leave a Comment