The Hindu : Front Page : No Indian pressure to free Sarabjit: Pakistan Minister

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Monday, Oct 06, 2008
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No Indian pressure to free Sarabjit: Pakistan Minister

Nirupama Subramanian

“Looking at his case from a human angle”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Law Minister Farooq Naek said on Sunday that his government was not under pressure from India to release Sarabjit Singh, the Indian national who is on death row following his conviction by Pakistani courts on terrorism charges, but was examining his case from a “human angle.”

Mr. Naek, who is to meet the 42-year-old Sarabjit among other prisoners at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on Monday, told reporters in that city it would be premature to say how the government planned to proceed in the matter.

He said the Law ministry would prepare a report after reviewing the case. The President was empowered to grant him a pardon, Mr. Naek said.

“There is no pressure from [India]. I am doing this independently for the purpose of human rights,” Mr. Naek said of his decision to re-examine the case. “We are looking at everything, what is the case, what exactly happened. Let us not jump. It is too premature to give a decision at this stage.” Mr. Naek also appealed to India to release all Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, and suggested that they could even serve out their sentences in Pakistan, where they could be in contact with their families.

“I am looking at [Sarabjit’s] case from a human angle. That is why I am asking my Indian counterpart to also look at the human angle. I understand that a number of Pakistanis are in Indian jails. Indian authorities should look into this issue and send these prisoners back to Pakistan. This repatriation is very necessary. This is an appeal and a request to my Indian counterpart,” he said.

It was not clear whether he was specifically linking Sarabjit’s release to that of Pakistani prisoners in India.

On the birth anniversary of the slain Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto on June 21, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced that the government would commute the death sentences of an estimated 7,000 condemned prisoners to life terms. The decision has not yet been formalised. Although Mr. Gilani did not announce any exceptions to the decision, media analysts here have argued against including Sarabjit in the mass commutation, as he was convicted on charges of terrorism.

The Indian was held guilty of causing a string of bomb attacks in Lahore, Faisalabad and Kasur in the Punjab province in 1990 that killed 14 people.

His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Sarabjit was to be hanged on April 1 this year, but it was first put off for 30 days after hectic diplomatic efforts.

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