Speedy execution: Army chief signs death warrants of 6 terrorists

Ministry of Interior also sends a list of 63 death-row prisoners to IGPs of all provinces for their execution.

PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD:

After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted moratorium on executions following the massacre of children by terrorists at Peshawar’s Army Public School and College on Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Thursday signed death warrants of six hardcore terrorists.

According to a statement issued by military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the terrorists, whose executions were pending, were convicted by Field General Court Martial. The statement, however, did not identify the convicts.

Sources said these convicts are most likely to be hanged at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Prison at 3:00 am on Friday. At the time of filing of this report, they were expected to be brought to the jail from different prisons through helicopter.



According to sources, executioners also arrived in the prison earlier in the day while a team of Pakistan army also visited the prison. The terrorists were reportedly involved in attack on General Musharraf and General Headquarters.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Interior on Thursday also sent list of 63 death-row prisoners to inspectors general of police (IGPs) of all provinces for their execution. The ministry’s legal wing cleared the names of these prisoners, who were awarded death sentences under the anti-terrorism act.

According to a senior official, the mercy petitions of many of the prisoners were rejected by former president Pervez Musharraf.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, in his back to back meetings with the prime minister and officials of home departments, gave the go-ahead to all provincial police departments to follow premier Nawaz’s instructions to execute prisoners, whose mercy petitions have been rejected, he said.

According to the official, the PM also discussed this issue with President Mamnoon Hussain.

Deputy Secretary (Law) Safeer Shah is also examining some 400 other mercy petitions, which were filed either to former president Pervez Musharraf or Asif Ali Zardari from 2007 to 2011, interior ministry officials said. Their cases will be cleared by next week, they said.

Sources said Chaudhry Nisar has directed all provincial home departments to furnish to the Interior Ministry reports of all prisoners, who were awarded death sentence under the terrorism act by next Monday.



President House’s spokesperson Samina Waqar quashed media reports that President Mamnoon Hussain had rejected any mercy petitions. “The president has not received any such plea since he has taken office as there has been a moratorium on capital punishment since 2008,” she added.

Meanwhile, relatives of death row prisoners in different Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) prisons have started meeting their relatives after moratorium on executions was lifted.

According to official sources, the number of inmates – awaiting death sentence in different jails of the K-P – is around 300, including 80 in Central Prison Peshawar, 100 in Central Prison Dera Ismail Khan and 120 in District Jail Haripur.

“The gallows are being repaired as no capital punishment had been awarded for many years,” an official said, while requesting anonymity.

The official said a team of the doctors and magistrates has also been finalised at the Central Prison Peshawar.

“As far as we know, convicts on the death row will be hanged till death in the central Prison Peshawar first and the other prisons will follow suit,” another official said, adding that things are being finalised.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2014.