Former caretaker human rights minister of Pakistan Ansar Burney in a last effort has urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to offer clemency to Indian national and a prisoner in Pakistan who is serving death penalty for alleged terrorist activity in Pakistan.
As the Pak government has shown signs of converting capital punishment to life imprisonment with a long row of diplomatic effort, the recent back track of a key witness has further loosen up the case in Sarbjit’s favour.
The key witness of the 1990 bomb blast Muhammad Saleem whose father and other relatives were died in the blast is now accusing Sarbjit being the prime conspirator of planting the bomb. Earlier he had made a statement of forcefully testify by Pakistan police against Sarbjit.
Saleem, whose family members died in the bombing, said he would commit suicide if Sarabjit were freed.
However, as per Sarbjit’s lawyer Saleem’s statement was never recorded in court and the flip-flop has further abated the value of his statements.
Ansar Buney in his appeal to Musharraf has pleaded to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment, as the case has nothing concrete to prove against Sarbjit and hence there is little to justify the death sentence.
Meanwhile, Sarabjit’s family members including his daughter and wife who were permitted to meet him at the Kot Lakhpat jail on Thursday are trying to urge ministers in newly formed Pakistan government for considering their mercy plea.
They have been pressing that Sarabjit was just an innocent farmer trapped in a mistaken identity and had nothing to do with the bomb blast or any kind of terrorist link-up.
Originally set to be hanged on April 01, Sarabjit’s execution was differed by 30 days following Indian government’s request for clemency to Sarabjit.
He was awarded death penalty by the anti-terrorist court in 1991 for carrying out bomb blast in Faisalabad and Lahore that killed 14 people. The Pakistan Supreme Court first in March 2006 rejected the mercy petition and later President Musharraf went for the same upholding the death sentence.
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