Two murder convicts hanged in jails across Punjab

Murder convicts, Akhtar and Karim, were hanged in Multan and Attock

MULTAN/ATTOCK: Two murder convicts were hanged early Tuesday morning at jails across Punjab as executions of death row prisoners have resumed after a brief hiatus during Ramazan, Express News reported. 

Murder convicts, Akhtar and Karim, were hanged at Multan Central Jail and Attock District Jail amid strict security arrangements.

Akhtar was sentenced to death for the murder of a man in December 1989, while Karim was sentenced to death for the murder of a man following a robbery in 2003.

Read: Two murder convicts hanged in Multan as Ramazan moratorium ends

Since the moratorium on executions was lifted, in the aftermath of the Army Public School, Peshawar, terrorist attack, 182 death row prisoners have been hanged in the country – 23 of them had been convicted of terrorism.

Of those convicted of terrorism, 11 had been tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act and 12 by the Field General Court Martial. Eight people have been hanged for attacking former president Pervez Musharraf, one was hanged for attacking the US Consulate in Karachi and one for attacking the Rawalpindi GHQ. Of those convicted by the Field General Court Martial, three were former officials of the Pakistan Air force, three of the Pakistan Army, one was the son of a retired army official and one was an army sepoy who had killed a colleague while on duty in Peshawar Cantt.

Of the 11 people convicted by Anti-Terrorism Courts, eight belonged to the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi/Sipah-i-Sahaba and were convicted of sectarian killings. Three had tried to hijack a PIA plane traveling from Turbat to Karachi in 1998.

Read: After Ramazan break: Pakistan set to resume executions

So far, the Punjab has been leading in the number of executions, 55, followed by Sindh, 15, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5, Balochistan, 5, and Mirpur Central Jail (AJK), 2. As many as 8,000 prisoners have been languishing in various prisons of the country, waiting for black warrants to be issued – many of them have been in jails since the ‘90s.

As many as 5,472 prisoners on death row, including 47 women, have been incarcerated in the 25 prisons in the Punjab. Of these, 44 have exhausted all avenues of appeals. Their fate lies in the hands of jail authorities who will decide when to obtain black warrants for them from the respective trial courts.

Read: Respite: No executions in Ramazan, says official

Clemency appeals of 392 convicts are pending with the president while one appeal is currently pending before the GHQ. No appeal from the Punjab is pending before Federal Shariat Court, however 875 appeals are pending before the Supreme Court and 4,162 appeals are pending before the Lahore High Court.