20th executions and counting: SSP convicted murderer hanged in Lahore jail
ATC refuses to accept pardon agreement and upholds death sentence
An Express News screen grab of the activist.
LAHORE:
An activist of the banned sectarian outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was executed at Kot Lakhpat Jail Saturday morning, pushing to 20 the total number of executions since the lifting of a six-year moratorium on the death penalty by the prime minister in December.
Ikramul Haq, alias Lahori, was condemned to death by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in 2004 for killing Nayyar Abbas, a guard at an Imambargah in Shorkot, Jhang, in 2001. His mercy plea had also been turned down by President Mamnoon Hussain.
Ikramul Haq’s death warrants were issued on January 6. Subsequently, the plaintiff approached the complainant and the two sides managed to reach a compromise, and the execution, which was scheduled for January 8, was stopped at the last moment when the agreement was presented before a judicial magistrate.
Subsequently, the two parties were asked to approach the ATC for the confirmation of the agreement. Out of the eight family members of Abbas, only two of his brothers and a sister appeared before the court, hence the ATC refused to accept the agreement and upheld its decision of the death sentence to the convict.
The Faisalabad ATC re-issued the black warrant and fixed January 17 for Ikramul Haq’s execution. On which advocate Mustafa, the counsel for the convict, challenged the warrant before the Lahore High Court (LHC) but the petition was dismissed by a bench of the LHC on January 15.
The last meeting of Ikramul Haq with his family was arranged on Friday. After the execution, authorities handed over the body to his brother. Strict security measures were in place in and around the central jail.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2015.
An activist of the banned sectarian outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was executed at Kot Lakhpat Jail Saturday morning, pushing to 20 the total number of executions since the lifting of a six-year moratorium on the death penalty by the prime minister in December.
Ikramul Haq, alias Lahori, was condemned to death by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in 2004 for killing Nayyar Abbas, a guard at an Imambargah in Shorkot, Jhang, in 2001. His mercy plea had also been turned down by President Mamnoon Hussain.
Ikramul Haq’s death warrants were issued on January 6. Subsequently, the plaintiff approached the complainant and the two sides managed to reach a compromise, and the execution, which was scheduled for January 8, was stopped at the last moment when the agreement was presented before a judicial magistrate.
Subsequently, the two parties were asked to approach the ATC for the confirmation of the agreement. Out of the eight family members of Abbas, only two of his brothers and a sister appeared before the court, hence the ATC refused to accept the agreement and upheld its decision of the death sentence to the convict.
The Faisalabad ATC re-issued the black warrant and fixed January 17 for Ikramul Haq’s execution. On which advocate Mustafa, the counsel for the convict, challenged the warrant before the Lahore High Court (LHC) but the petition was dismissed by a bench of the LHC on January 15.
The last meeting of Ikramul Haq with his family was arranged on Friday. After the execution, authorities handed over the body to his brother. Strict security measures were in place in and around the central jail.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2015.