ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military chief yesterday signed death warrants for six militants on death row after the government ended a moratorium on capital punishment in terror-related cases, the military said.
“COAS (Chief of Army Staff) today signed death warrants of 6 hardcore terrorists (pending execution) convicted by FGCM in accordance with law,” military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa tweeted. Security officials said the six were convicted by a military court and were awaiting execution.
It is not clear when the executions will be carried out but a senior security official said the six would be hanged “within days”.
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.
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.
Rights campaign group Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.
AFP
