Pakistan asked to be ‘sympathetic’ to Sarabjit, the convicted killer of Pakistanis

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday asked Pakistan to adopt a ‘sympathetic’ and ‘humanitarian’ approach in deciding the fate of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who has been imprisoned in Pakistan for the last 19 years.

"We have consistently urged the Pakistani government to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view in this case. It is our hope that they will find it possible to do so," Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur told Lok Sabha. Responding to questions, Kaur said the government was aware of reports that Pakistan’s Supreme Court turned down a review petition regarding Sarabjit’s death sentence. A three-member bench of the SC had dismissed the review petition and upheld Sarabjit's death sentence, following which his lawyer filed a fresh mercy petition before Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari earlier this month. Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Pakistan in 1990 that killed 14 people.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_32