Last ditch effort to stop Shafqat’s hanging

KARACHI: As the clock ticked closer to the hour of his execution, lawyers for condemned prisoner Shafqat Hussain joined his family in appealing to President Mamnoon Hussain to pardon him, citing the uncertainty over his age.

A spokesperson for The Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) told The Express Tribune on Monday that the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) inquiry had not conclusively determined his age at the time of his conviction and demanded a judicial commission to look into the matter. “We want the execution to be halted and a judicial commission be formed to investigate his age.”

He argued that the FIA report, which concluded that the murder convict was a 23-year-old at the time of offence, was based on only police and jail records.

“The affidavit, parents’ IDs and school record have confirmed that he was born in 1986 and according to which he was a juvenile.”

Four black warrants have been issued for the death-row prisoner. The last one was issued after the FIA report which determined that he wasn’t a minor.

A 5-member delegation of the European Union (EU) called on Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, urging him to stop Shafqat’s execution.

A three-judge bench of the apex court will take up his appeal against the Islamabad High Court order on Tuesday, though his execution is scheduled in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2015.