Shahbaz Sharif declared ‘absconder’

Declaring the Punjab chief minister as an absconder and a missing prisoner, the Sindh government disclosed on Saturday that there was no record present with Landhi jail about Shahbaz Sharif’s release in the plane hijacking and other cases. Sindh Prison and Law Minister Ayaz Soomro while addressing a press conference at Sindh Assembly building also appealed the superior judiciary to take suo moto notice of matter as no judicial order for release of Shahbaz Sharif was available in the record of Landhi jail. Flanked with the secretaries of Law and Prison Departments, IG prison and other senior officials, the provincial minister for prison department announced that Sindh government will publish advertisement in the national newspaper about the missing prisoner-Shahbaz Sharif and appealed him to come back in the jail as there was no any record of his release. Sharing the official documents with the media persons, the Provincial minister said that that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif were sent to Landhi jail Karachi on the order of Anti-Terrorism Court judge Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafari in 1999 in plane hijacking case. He, however, reminded that the Nawaz Sharif was shifted to Attock Fort on February 7, 2000 as per history ticket available in the office of judicial branch of this prison. But, he said that an ex-under trial prisoner Shahbaz Sharif was imprisoned in Landhi Jail on December 30, 1999 in plane hijacking and other corruption cases pending with the NAB and was transferred to Central Jail Adiyala on April 7, 2000 but he was not brought back to the jail despite all the cases were still pending before the ATC-1 Karachi. Soomro said that due to disturbance/jail riots took place at Landhi Jail on October 15, 2008, relevant record of release of Shahbaz Sharif, an ex-convict prisoner has not been found in the jail record, so far. Shahbaz Sharif was brought to Landhi Jail on the orders of the ATC judge, so how could any prisoner be released without the order of judiciary, he raised a question. He added that the Sindh government will pursue the case and will write to the Punjab government to bring the absconder Shahbaz Sharif back to Landhi jail. To a question, provincial minister said jail authorities might have written to courts regarding release of Shahbaz Sharif without judicial order. Soomro said that mercy and review appeals of 312 death-sentenced prisoners were pending before the Supreme Court and High Courts for about a decade but no decision has yet been come. In such appeals, 263 appeals are in Sindh High Court and 43 appeals pending before the Supreme Court. The minister said during the visit of jails, prisoners complained with him about the delay in the decision on their appeals filed in the apex courts for mercy and review of death sentence. Instead of taking up political cases, he appealed to the superior courts to process the appeals of the prisoners speedily. Sharing details of the appeals of death-sentenced prisoners, he unveiled that 76 death-sentenced prisoners of Karachi Central Jail were pending before the Sindh High Court and Federal Shariah Court, while 26 appeals were at Supreme Court, waiting for verdict since several years. Similarly, appeals of 108 prisoners of Hyderabad central jail in Sindh High Court and 11 appeals pending before the Supreme Court, while appeals of 72 prisoners of Sukkur Central Jail and six appeals of prisoners of Larkana Central Jail were still pending before the Sindh High Court and Supreme Court. He added that mercy appeal of a lady prisoner Asma Nawab, who is in Women Prison Karachi for death sentence, still pending in High Court for about a decade. The minister said that not a single death-sentenced prisoner hanged as PPP was against the death sentences. He added that the federal government has forwarded a draft law to the provinces to make changes in the existing law of sentences. The PPP government has suggested abolishing of death sentence and converting it with the enhanced in life term sentence of 25 years from existing 14 years, he added. Following the threats of attacks on the Karachi and other jails, the security has been beefed up in and outside the jails; provincial minister said and maintained that the rangers and police were deployed in this regard. Besides the intelligence network of inside jails has been improved, the jammers are being installed in all the 27 jails of Sindh province, which host a total of 13,380 prisoners. Soomro added that a separate jail is being built behind the Landhi Jail, where dangerous prisoners would be kept. Sharing the reforms about the jails, he said that nomenclature of old names of the jails’ staff was being changed with the new names, besides salaries of the jails’ police force are also made equivalent to the Sindh Police. The minister further said that during the present government, at least 455 Indian prisoners have been released. Presently, at least 80 Indian prisoners were still in the jails of Sindh and they would be released soon, if courts heard and disposed off their cases speedily.