Save the date: Always on death row, never hanged
Jalal Morejo is scheduled to die — for the 17th time.
SUKKUR:
Jalal Morejo, Sukkur’s resident death row inmate, has a guardian angel — the president of Pakistan.
Jalal has been scheduled to die no less than 16 times but each time his sentence has been pushed forward, either through government changes or by interventions by the president himself. Jalal is now set to be hanged on July 14.
According to his case history, Jalal, a resident of Chanari village in Naushero Feroz, killed a man, Haji Muhammad Haroon Morejo, to avenge the murder of one of his relatives in 1997. He shot Haroon while he was offering Friday prayers in the village mosque.
The dispute between Jalal and Haroon’s group began when Jalal’s relative was shot by a rival group. A jirga was held to settle the matter and it was decided that Haroon’s group would pay a fine. A part of the payment was made on the spot but Jalal violated the jirga’s decision and killed Haroon.
A case was registered against him at Naushero Feroz police station, after which he was arrested and presented in the court of a district and sessions judge. He was then sent to jail as an under-trial prisoner.
On April 7, 2000, the district and sessions court of Naushero Feroz announced the verdict of the murder case and sentenced Jalal to death.
Jalal fought the sentence, appealing the Sindh High Court, the Supreme Court and the then president, General Pervez Musharraf, but they were all dismissed.
He was to die on March 14, 2008, but just two days before the execution, his death penalty was postponed for two months because the newly installed Pakistan Peoples Party government was going to amend the law on capital punishment.
Jalal has since then had eight postponements, until he seemed destined to die on January 12, 2011 after a seven-month delay. However his case was pushed forward once again, with the president repeatedly rescuing him from the noose.
On Friday, the Naushehro Feroze additional district and sessions judge issued the 17th black warrant against Jalal Morejo, sentencing him to death on July 14 at 4:30 am. Though he may be the first prisoner in the history of Pakistan to still be alive after his mercy appeal was rejected by the president, Jalal’s luck may finally run out.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2011.
Jalal Morejo, Sukkur’s resident death row inmate, has a guardian angel — the president of Pakistan.
Jalal has been scheduled to die no less than 16 times but each time his sentence has been pushed forward, either through government changes or by interventions by the president himself. Jalal is now set to be hanged on July 14.
According to his case history, Jalal, a resident of Chanari village in Naushero Feroz, killed a man, Haji Muhammad Haroon Morejo, to avenge the murder of one of his relatives in 1997. He shot Haroon while he was offering Friday prayers in the village mosque.
The dispute between Jalal and Haroon’s group began when Jalal’s relative was shot by a rival group. A jirga was held to settle the matter and it was decided that Haroon’s group would pay a fine. A part of the payment was made on the spot but Jalal violated the jirga’s decision and killed Haroon.
A case was registered against him at Naushero Feroz police station, after which he was arrested and presented in the court of a district and sessions judge. He was then sent to jail as an under-trial prisoner.
On April 7, 2000, the district and sessions court of Naushero Feroz announced the verdict of the murder case and sentenced Jalal to death.
Jalal fought the sentence, appealing the Sindh High Court, the Supreme Court and the then president, General Pervez Musharraf, but they were all dismissed.
He was to die on March 14, 2008, but just two days before the execution, his death penalty was postponed for two months because the newly installed Pakistan Peoples Party government was going to amend the law on capital punishment.
Jalal has since then had eight postponements, until he seemed destined to die on January 12, 2011 after a seven-month delay. However his case was pushed forward once again, with the president repeatedly rescuing him from the noose.
On Friday, the Naushehro Feroze additional district and sessions judge issued the 17th black warrant against Jalal Morejo, sentencing him to death on July 14 at 4:30 am. Though he may be the first prisoner in the history of Pakistan to still be alive after his mercy appeal was rejected by the president, Jalal’s luck may finally run out.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2011.