PAKISTAN : Mohammad Ali Imminent Execution

ACTIONS URGENTES
PAKISTAN : Mohammad Ali (m), aged 45

Further Information on UA 204/07 (ASA 33/017/2007, 7 August 2007)
Imminent Execution

ASA 33/018/2007
09 August 2007

Mohammad Ali, who had been scheduled to hang on 9 August, has had his execution postponed by 15 days. This is to give his family more time to seek a pardon from the family of the man he was found guilty of killing, which could be granted through an offer of monetary compensation.

Under the Islamic provisions relating to murder in the Pakistan Penal Code, the family of a murder victim have the right to pardon the perpetrator, in which case he or she is released without further punishment.

This is the second time Mohammad Ali has been given a 15-day stay of execution to allow the families to agree monetary compensation.

Mohammad Ali was convicted of murdering a man called Fayaz in 1996. He was sentenced to death in 1998 and his appeal was rejected by the High Court ; his second and final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2006.

RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language :

– calling on the President to use his powers under Article 45 of the Constitution to commute the death sentence handed down to Mohammad Ali (case number 241/96) ;

– welcoming the news that Mohammad Ali (case number 241/96) has been granted a 15-day stay of execution, and calling on the authorities to overturn his death sentence ;

– calling for an immediate moratorium on all executions in Pakistan, in line with the worldwide trends towards complete abolition of the death penalty.

APPEALS TO :

President Pervez Musharaff
Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad,
Pakistan
Fax : +92 51 9221422
Email : via website : http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx
Salutation : Dear President Musharaff

Mr Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao
Minister for the Interior
Ministry for the Interior
Room 404, 4th Floor, Block R, Federal Secretariat
Islamabad,
Pakistan
Fax : +92 51 9202624
Email : minister@interior.gov.pk
secretary@interior.gov
Salutation : Dear Minister

Mr Muhammad Wasi Zafar
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Room 305, S-Block, Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad,
Pakistan
Fax : +92 51 9202628
Email : minister@molaw.gov.pk
Salutation : Dear Minister

Ambassade de la République islamique du Pakistan
Avenue Delleur 57
1170 Bruxelles
Fax : 02 675 31 37
Email : parepbrusels@skynet.be

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 20 September 2007.