Procedure: Jail authorities’ comments sought on execution of a disabled person

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court ordered jail authorities in Faisalabad on Monday to assist it regarding the hanging of a disabled person considering that jail manual does not provide instructions in this regard.

Abdul Basit, a death-row convict who has been paralysed, has filed a petition in this regard through Barrister Sarah Belal. The execution has already been stayed.

Belal told an LHC division bench that executing a paralysed man was cruel, inhuman and prohibited under Islamic and international laws. She said Basit had to use a wheelchair following an illness contracted during his imprisonment. The lawyer said he had not been provided adequate treatment by jail authorities. The complainant’s lawyer said medical reports declaring Basit disabled were fakes. The court ordered that a jail doctor be asked to evaluate the convict and report whether or not he could be hanged.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2015.