Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: No further postponement of Sarabjit hanging: Pak

No further postponement of Sarabjit hanging: Pak
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NewsByte on 19 April, 2008 12:49:00
 
The hanging of Sarabjit was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez Musharraf
last month so that Pakistan's new government could review his case following an
appeal for clemency from the Indian government. Sarabjit was originally set to
be executed on April 1.
According to a local TV channel, spokesman Maj Gen (retired) Rashid Qureshi
denied reports in the Pakistani media that Sarabjit's execution had been
postponed for one more month.
India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday made a fresh
appeal to the Pakistan government to grant clemency to Sarabjit on humanitarian
grounds. There has not been any official response from Islamabad to Mukherjee's
appeal.
Sarabjit's lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid has said that the condemned man's case can
only be considered by Musharraf, as the President alone has the power to pardon
him.
Leading rights activist Ansar Burney too has said he will file a fresh appeal
with Musharraf to seek clemency for Sarabjit as there were several loopholes in
his conviction by a Pakistani court. (PTI)