Friday, December 19, 2014

Pakistan Executes Two Terrorists After Lifting Moratorium on Death Penalty




Two convicted terrorists were today hanged in Pakistan two days after the government ended a moratorium on capital punishment in terror-related cases.

Dr Usman, a former serviceman who was found guilty for his involvement on the attack on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, was executed along with another ex-military personnel, Arshad.

On Thursday, Pakistan's military chief had signed death warrants for six terrorists on death row. Security officials said the six had been convicted by a military court and were awaiting execution.

The announcement came hours after the government warned prison officials of a possible jailbreak in the restive northwest province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa following the end of the moratorium.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced on Wednesday an end to the moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases after a Pakistani Taliban massacre at a military-run school killed 148 people, mostly children.

The assault in the northwestern city of Peshawar is the deadliest ever terror attack in Pakistan and has shocked the nation.

Political and military leaders have vowed in response to wipe out the homegrown Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of ordinary Pakistanis in recent years.

Pakistan imposed a de facto moratorium on civilian executions in 2008, though hanging remains on the statute book and judges continue to pass the death sentence.

Only one person has been executed since then, a soldier convicted by a court martial and hanged in November 2012.

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