Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Sarabjit Singh to be hanged on April 1 in Pakistan

Sarabjit Singh to be hanged on April 1 in Pakistan
================================================================================
SPECIALCORRESPONDENT on 16 March, 2008 07:57:00
 
The death warrant for Sarabjit was received by authorities at Kot Lakhpat jail
in Lahore where he has been held for the last 17 years and will be executed on
April 1, the Urdu newspaper Daily Express reported on Sunday.
The mercy petition of Sarabjit, who Pakistan claims is Manjit Singh, was
rejected by President Pervez Musharraf on March 3.
Sarabjit's mercy petition was sent to Musharraf along with that of Indian
prisoner Kashmir Singh, who was freed after spending 35 years on death row in
Pakistani jails.
There was no official confirmation of the development.
Sarabjit was sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in bomb blasts in
Lahore and Multan that killed about 14 people. His family denies he was a spy as
claimed by Pakistan and insists he accidentally strayed into Pakistani
territory.
In his mercy petition sent to Musharraf, Sarabjit had sought his release on the
grounds that he was innocent and wrongly implicated.
The petition was rejected by the President after ''thorough consideration'' as
the allegations against him ''were proved and he was awarded capital punishment
by court'', official sources said.
Pakistan's Supreme Court too had rejected Sarabjit's plea for clemency in March
2006.
Following the rejection of Sarabjit's mercy petition by the President, the
interior ministry had informed the government of Punjab province to take steps
to carry out his death sentence.
Unexpected development
It seems the order, or at least the fact the it was issued now, may be some
sort of a tit for tat.
After sending back Kashmir Singh, the Indian who had been on death row in
Pakistan for 35 years, the Pakistanis had not expected that Khalid Mehmood, who
died in Indian custody, would be sent back dead.
According to Pakistani authorities, Mehmood had gone to India to watch an
India-Pakistan cricket match but was picked up by the security agencies and
tortured.
They also allege that India did not even inform the Pakistan High Commission
after they arrested Mehmood.
When his body was sent back, there were protests and anger among Pakistanis
over releasing Kashmir Singh.
Now, less than a week later Sarabjit's death warrant has come even though the
Pakistan Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney, who was instrumental in Kashmir
Singh's release, was still fighting for Sarabjit's release.(With PTI Inputs)