Shafqat Hussain’s execution put off again

IHC orders stay on hanging after terming FIA’s inquiry to determine convict’s age illegal

ISLAMABAD: The execution of Shafqat Hussain, whose lawyers claim he was a minor when sentenced to death, has been postponed for the second time – a day before the death row convict was to be hanged in Karachi.

On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) stayed the execution of the murder convict after declaring that the inquiry conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to determine Hussain’s age was “illegal”. Justice Athar Minallah observed the federation had created doubts in the matter by conducting the inquiry even after the matter had been decided by the Supreme Court.



The case has angered human rights groups and prompted mercy appeals from his family, claiming the convict was 14 years old when he was charged with kidnapping and murdering a boy in 2004 and was brutally tortured into confessing the crime he did not commit.

Initially, Hussain was to be hanged on March 19 but was given a reprieve hours before his scheduled execution after a vociferous civil society campaign. The interior ministry tasked the FIA to look into the question of his age. The investigators later determined he was not a minor when convicted. A new execution date was set but that was also challenged.

“The process of determining [the convict’s] age by the federation was illegal,” Justice Minallah said on Tuesday, as the court took up the review plea. If it was so necessary, the federation should have sought permission from the apex court before setting up the inquiry committee, he remarked.

To the question who had ordered the inquiry, the state counsel said the FIA investigated the case on the orders of the interior ministry.

“Can the person who ordered the inquiry appear before the court and confess his order was in violation with the Supreme Court’s verdict?” the judge asked.

The counsel argued that even if the inquiry was not conducted, the petitioner’s fundamental rights would not have been violated as his conviction and sentence had been upheld by the top court.

However, Justice Minallah remarked that what impact it would have made on the president, the federation and the courts if Hussain had been found to be a minor in the inquiry after his execution.

The court then ordered a stay on the convict’s execution till the case was decided. The proceedings will resume today (Wednesday).

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2015.