Two convicted plane hijackers due to be hanged in Hyderabad on Thursday

Mercy pleas of both the condemned prisoners were rejected by rejected by the president after almost 15 years


Z Ali May 27, 2015
Shahsawar Baloch and Sabir Baloch will be hanged at 4:30am. PHOTO: PPI

HYDERABAD: Two men, convicted of hijacking a plane in May 1998, will be hanged to death as per their court sentence at 4:30am at the Hyderabad Central Jail on Thursday.

Mercy pleas of the two condemned prisoners, Shahsawar Baloch and Sabir Baloch, were rejected by the President after almost 15 years after they had been filed in September 2000.

An Anti-Terrorism Court in Hyderabad issued black warrants on May 21 for the two convicts in Hyderabad Jail, along with a third convict in the same case, Shabbir Baloch, who is in a Karachi jail.

The convicts had initially been sentenced in August 1998. Their subsequent appeals in the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court were dismissed in August 1999 and August 2000, respectively.

The men had been convicted of hijacking a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Fokker F27 plane PK-554, carrying 33 passengers and five crew members from Gwadar to Karachi.

The hijackers wanted to land the plane in the Indian city of Bhuj but the pilot Uzair Khan landed at Hyderabad Airport. Hours after the plane landed the security forces succeeded in overpowering the hijackers, without any casualties.

The men had demanded that Balochistan should not be used for the May 1998 nuclear test in Chaghai.

Pakistan’s security establishment considered this demand as a ploy by hostile countries to stop Pakistan from carrying out the tests.

Their execution date coincides with Youm-e-Takbeer, the day when Pakistan carried out five nuclear explosions underground in the Chaghai hills in Balochistan.

Read: Seven murder convicts executed across the country

Jail superintendent Ziaur Rehman said medical officer Ahmed Ali Zardari performed prisoners’ check-up on Wednesday, while they had also had their last meeting with their families, with the meeting lasting over two hours.

Shahsawar's daughter Hajra burst into tears while talking to the media outside the prison.

"I love my father. I wish he was granted a mercy plea."

The convict's son Humayun, appearing to be about 30 years old, said his father believed "whatever he did was to highlight the case of Balochistan".

Read: 11 inmates executed

"We have completed all the formalities. They will be taken to the gallows at 4:30am," Rehman told The Express Tribune.

This will be the first execution in Hyderabad prison after an eight-year hiatus and second since 1999.

According to Rehman, a triple murder convict, Mohammad Sharif Chishti, was hanged on January 17, 2007, more than seven years after Fazal Muhammad Chang's hanging on September 16, 1999.

They will be hanged in presence of civil judge and judicial magistrate VI.

COMMENTS (3)

pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply @Bewildered: totally agree with you.....................we must acknowledge that it is important to win the hearts of baloch people.
Ahmed | 8 years ago | Reply No compassion for terrorism
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ