|
New hope for Sarabjit as family
lands in Pak
WSN Network
TARN TARAN/ISLAMABAD:
Death row prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh, who faces possible
execution for spying and for his alleged involvement in a bomb blast
that claimed several lives but whose family claims he is a victim of
mistaken identity, may be released if his death sentence is
converted into life imprisonment, Pakistan officials have said.
A new ray of hope emerged for Sarabjit after Pakistan once again
deferred the date set for execution even as well known human rights
activist Ansar Burney put forth his request to the Pakistan
President for deferring the death sentence for three months.
He has already spent over 17 years in jail, and most convicts
sentenced to life terms in Pakistan spend less time in prison.
India’s external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday made a
fresh appeal to the Pakistan government to grant clemency to
Sarabjit Singh on humanitarian grounds. Sarabjit's lawyer Rana Abdul
Hamid said the condemned man’s case can only be considered by
President Musharraf as he alone has the power to pardon him.
On Saturday, adviser to Prime Minister on the interior Rehman Malik
said that a proposal to convert Sarabjit Singh’s death sentence into
life imprisonment had been dispatched to President Pervez Musharraf
for approval.
More hope emerged because of his remark that it was the policy of
the government to convert death sentences of convicts into life
imprisonment.
Meanwhile, New Delhi was preparing to free 64 Pakistanis being held
prisoner in India.
Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur, accompanied by four relatives, would
take to the streets in Pakistan to solicit support for her brother,
who is on death row. The family also plans to meet Salim Shauqat, on
whose crucial testimony the court granted death sentence to Sarabjit.
Years after appearing as a witness, Shauqat had revealed to an
Indian news channel that he knew nothing about the real culprit and
had recorded "false" testimony at the instance of the Pakistan
police.
The family would cross over to Pakistan through the Attari border on
April 23. Under the one-week city-specific visa to Lahore and
Nankana Sahib.
23 April 2008
|
Read Also