With Pakistan lifting the moratorium on the death sentences, 17 of the 55 convicted terrorists whose mercy petitions have been dismissed will be executed in the next few days, according to media reports.
There are at least 522 criminals sentenced to death in terror and other cases related to serious crimes in the country, including 11 who were convicted by a military court.Punjab province has the highest number of death row convicts with 465, followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 30, Sindh with 14 and Baluchistan with 13, the News reported.
The mercy appeals of 55 death row inmates have been dismissed by the Supreme Court and President Mamnoon Hussain.Seventeen of them will be executed in the next few days.“Their death warrants will be issued and their relatives will be called in to have their last meeting with them,” the Express Tribune quoted Interior Ministry as saying.
A de facto moratorium on civilian executions has been in place in Pakistan since 2008. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered the lifting of self-imposed moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases after the massacre of 148 people, including 132 students, in the worst terrorist attack in Pakistan’s history.
“These sacrifices will not go wasted and we all want complete elimination of terrorism from Pakistan,” Sharif said. “If terrorists are not punished, then who will be punishedIJ” he quipped. “We have proposed terror cases should be expedited.”
He said important legal steps will be taken to plug loopholes in the justice system so that militants should not use them to escape punishment. The Express Tribune also said Interior Ministry on Thursday forwarded 120 mercy appeals to the premier for consideration.
We have killed all the children...What do we do nowIJ: attackers
Peshawar: “We have killed all the children in the auditorium...What do we do nowIJ” one of the Taliban attackers told his handler after shooting indiscriminately at the students in the main hall of the army-run school from where more than 100 bodies were recovered. “Wait for the army people, kill them before blowing yourself,” his handler ordered, instructing the suicide attackers who were executing one of the most gruesome attacks against children in recent history. Citing a security official, the Dawn said it was one of the last conversations between the attackers and their handler on Tuesday shortly before two remaining suicide bombers charged towards the commandos positioned just outside the side entrance of the Army Public School’s administration block.
Taliban threat looms over Pakistani jails
Peshawar: As Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided to lift the moratorium on death penalties in terrorism cases, jail authorities are on their toes to tackle any terrorist activity, media reported Thursday.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of prisons alerted the provincial Government on Thursday that militants might storm jails to free high profile prisoners, Dawn online reported.
School attack: 16 Taliban commanders named in FIR
Peshawar: Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, his deputy Khalid Haqqani and 14 of the top commanders of the militant group have been named in an FIR in the Peshawar school massacre, even as investigators on Thursday visited the site, collected evidence and recorded statements from the survivors. Other Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) top commanders named in the FIR were — Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Saifullah, Mangal Bagh, Hafiz Daulat, Sarwar Shah, Maulvi Faqir, Abdul Wali, Qari Shakeel, Aslam Farooqi Aurangzeb, and Jan Wali. The FIR has been registered at Machni Gate Police Station on behalf of SHO Sher Ali Khan.