Fresh hope for Sarabjit, set to meet Pak Law Minister

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 3 (PTI) Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek will meet Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh on Monday to review his case following the Indian government's appeal for clemency for him, official sources said, raising hopes of his release.

Sarabjit, 42, has been on death row since he was
convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks that
killed 14 people in Punjab province in 1990. His family
insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.

Naek will meet Sarabjit at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail
on Monday and conduct a review of his case, official sources
were quoted as saying today by Geo News channel.

Naek will also consider the Indian government's
clemency appeal for Sarabjit, the sources said.

Sarabjit was originally set to be hanged on April one
and his execution was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez
Musharraf. This was done so that the new Pakistan People's
Party-led government could review his case following India's
appeal for clemency.

Pakistan's Supreme Court had earlier turned down
Sarabjit's mercy petition.

After Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in
the matter, Pakistani authorities put off Sarabjit's
execution "till further orders".

Gilani announced a proposal to commute the death
sentences of thousands of prisoners into life imprisonment on
June 21 to mark the birth anniversary of slain Pakistan
Peoples Party (P.P.P.) chairperson Benazir Bhutto but it is
still not clear if the move would benefit Sarabjit.

In August, the government informed the Supreme Court
that it is yet to take a final decision on the proposal to
commute death sentences to life imprisonment.

Several political parties and Islamic groups,
including the Jamaat-e-Islami have opposed any move to convert
Sarabjit's death sentence into life imprisonment. PTI RHL