Juvenile’s death penalty
Arrested in 1998 in a murder case in Mandi Bahauddin

Juvenile’s death penalty
Iqbal put up a 21-year-long legal battle to get his legal right. In 2004, the victim’s family had pardoned him and withdrew their petition, but an anti-terrorism court refused to accept the plea due to the non-compoundable nature of the offence. After his mercy petition was rejected by the President in March 2016, a death warrant was issued setting his execution on March 30, 2016. The execution was stayed after a review petition was filed in the Supreme Court. Justice Project Pakistan has welcomed the decision, saying “a teenager should never have spent 21 years on death row, to begin with”. The courts should see to it if there are others like Iqbal wrongly placed on death row. Under no circumstance should miscarriage of justice be allowed. No innocent person should suffer even if 99 guilty persons escape the law. Law without justice is a wound without a cure.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2020.
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