ATC issues death warrants for Saulat Mirza

KARACHI: An Anti Terrorism Court in Karachi issued a death warrant on Wednesday for a condemned prisoner belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Mirza will be hanged on March 19 as per court orders.

Earlier today, Karachi Central Jail authorities approached an ATC seeking Mirza's death warrants.

Saulat Mirza, a target killer, was sentenced to death in 1999 on charges of murdering former managing director of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Shahid Hamid along with his driver Ashraf Brohi and guard Akbar Khan in July 1997 in Defence Housing Authority area of Karachi.

A court official on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Express Tribune that the letter seeking death warrants for Mirza had been received.

“His warrants will probably be issued today or tomorrow,” the official said.

Mirza was arrested by police officer Chaudhry Aslam in 1998 from Karachi airport when he was returning from Bangkok.

Saulat Mirza to be executed in Mach jail

The Central Prison Mach, one of the most dreadful prisons in Pakistan, has started making preparations for executing Saulat Mirza.

The decision was to execute Mirza in Mach jail was taken owing to security concerns since shifting a high-profile prisoner 800 kilometers to Karachi was out of the question.

“The authorities at the highest level had decided to execute him in Mach Central Jail following the security risks involved in shifting him to Karachi over rough mountains and rugged terrain,” an official confirmed.

“Sindh government has issued the letter to Balochistan government for executing Saulat Mirza on March 19 in Central Prison Mach,” Home Secretary Balochistan Akbar Hussain Durrani confirmed to The Express Tribune.

It would be the first execution after the gap of nine years in Mach Central Jail, Inspector General Balochistan Prison Bashir Bangulzai told The Express Tribune.

Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Akbar Hussain Durrani said the Central Prison Mach had started necessary preparation for executing "a prisoner from Sindh."

“Balochistan government will execute the prison on administrative grounds since the prisoner belonged to Sindh Government,” Durrani said.

A Session Judge in Sibi is expected to assign a Judicial Magistrate to supervise the execution, while an anti-terrorism court will inform the Wali, next of kin of the prisoner, regarding the execution.

It is likely that Mirza would be executed on the morning of March 19. The last wish of the prison would be asked before execution.

Mirza and other high-profile prisoners were shifted from Karachi to other jails in 2004 owing to security concerns.

Read: MQM's Saulat Mirza among high-profile prisoners shifted to Balochistan

Mirza’s mercy appeals have been rejected by all the appellate courts and by the Presidency as well. His execution remained blurred even after the moratorium on death penalties was lifted by the government.

Since, the government has categorically directed all the provincial home departments to resume hangings of all prisoners whose mercy petitions have been rejected, Mirza’s warrants are about to be issued.

Read: Govt lifts death penalty moratorium completely: officials

So far, after the Peshawar school massacre, 24 condemned prisoners have been hanged. At least 8,000 prisoners are still on death row confined in different jails across country.

Read: Capital offences : Govt rings death knell for 8,000 convicts