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| India-Pakistan |
| Presidency delaying execution of terrorists |
| 2010-08-08 |
| [The News (Pak) Top Stories] Dozens of convicted and condemned terrorists who should have been hanged are alive and well because the federal government and the Presidency are sitting over their mercy petitions, in some cases for over five years. While the federal and provincial ministers are constantly and continuously accusing the judiciary of releasing the accused terrorists, official record shows that the execution of dozens of convicts, sentenced to death under the Anti Terrorism Act for killing innocent people, is pending because the Presidency is sitting on the convicts' mercy petitions. From amongst the mercy petitions of the terrorists, convicted under ATA, there are some whose execution has been blocked by the Presidency since 2005. Under the Constitution, it is the prime minister on whose advice the President rejects or accepts such mercy petitions. Amid mounting incidents of terrorism, ineffective intelligence, hopeless policing, poor prosecution and lack of useful counter-terror strategy, the government is trying to shift the blame on courts but its own lethargy in punishing terrorists has been quietly ignored. According to official sources, in the case of Punjab alone, a total of 24 mercy petitions of condemned prisoners, sentenced to death under ATA, filed to the president are pending. There are almost 295 convicts, waiting on the death row but convicted in acts other than ATA, including Indian spy Manjeet Singh alias Sarbajeet Singh, are not being executed because of their pending mercy petitions. In yet another category of such condemned prisoners, almost 49 convicts sentenced by the anti-terrorist courts in the Punjab but not under Section 7 of ATA, are also amongst those saved from execution because of their pending mercy petitions. Because of poor police investigations and ineffective prosecution, a large number of accused terrorists are released by the courts for want of evidence. A recent report of the Rawalpindi district prosecutor, reported by The News, showed the pathetic performance of police, intelligence agencies, indifference of the concerned military officials and public prosecutors, which led to the release of the suspects involved in the otherwise high profile murder of a serving Surgeon General Lt General Mushtaq Beg in a Rawalpindi terrorist attack. For similar reasons, the accused involved in certain other high profile cases, including Marriott Hotel attack, failed attempt on the life of ousted dictator Musharraf, too, have been released by the courts. Without keeping their own house in order, some of the provincial ministers and federal authorities have been trying to pass the buck to the judiciary. However, the report of the Rawalpindi district prosecutor in the case of Lt Gen Mushtaq Beg's murder on the Mall Road, Rawalpindi terrorist attack and the decision of Tariq Pervez, head of the National Counter Terrorism Authority, to step down exposed the executive's seriousness to checking terrorism. However, despite the poor conviction rate, it is believed the pronounced execution of the convicted terrorist and those involved in heinous crime help create much-needed deterrence against crime. Generally, the people believe that the terrorists and criminals are having a field day in today's Pakistan as they freely choose their target, hit and kill innumerable innocents and never caught. And those caught, the general belief is, are released by the courts for want of evidence. Contrary to these general perceptions, the number of pending mercy petitions do suggest that despite all odds, terrorist and criminals are convicted here. However, their execution has been delayed because of the federal government and the Presidency's inability to immediately take a decision on their mercy petitions. Some of the mercy petitions in cases where the condemned prisoners were given death sentences under ATA, are pending since 2005. In other cases, such mercy petitions are pending for many years, in cases even more than a decade. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Gives them more time to fully rehabilitate, learn a skill, grow in their faith....etc. Oh wait. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-08-08 05:22 |
| #1 Fine. As soon as they get their next military dictatorship, we can make a Fort Smith style gallows part of the military aid so they can catch up om the backlog. Hang 'em high... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2010-08-08 00:56 |