HoneY
MaaPeya Da LaaDLa
Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh's hanging has been deferred by one more month, say sources.
Sarabjit's hanging has been deferred under the purview of a Pakistani law that allows the President to give a death convict three one-month extensions.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had appealed to Pakistan for granting clemency to the Indian prisoner in Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh.
He had said that mercy must be shown to Sarabjit Singh on humanitarian grounds.
Sarabjit's hanging was earlier deferred but Burney has asked for further extension.
According to Burney, who visited Sarabjit's family in India recently, there is enough evidence to show Sarabjit may have been falsely convicted in a bombing case.
Meanwhile, Indian authorities have established contact with Pakistan's new government on the issue of its national Sarabjit Singh and are hopeful that he will be shown clemency.
The execution of Sarabjit - sentenced to death for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 - was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez Musharraf so that the new government could review his case. Sarabjit was originally set to be hanged on April 1.
Official sources said the Indian government had taken up Sarabjit's case with the new coalition government led by the Pakistan People's Party shortly after it assumed office last month. The Indian government is now hopeful that Sarabjit will be shown clemency, the sources said.
''The Pakistan government is aware that there is cross-party support in India for the plea for clemency for Sarabjit. Though there are no indications as yet from the Pakistan government, we are hopeful that he will be shown clemency,'' a source said.
Sarabjit's Pakistani lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid is expected to make another appeal for clemency to the new government and the condemned man's relatives will arrive in Pakistan soon to meet him, the sources said.
Sarabjit's hanging has been deferred under the purview of a Pakistani law that allows the President to give a death convict three one-month extensions.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had appealed to Pakistan for granting clemency to the Indian prisoner in Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh.
He had said that mercy must be shown to Sarabjit Singh on humanitarian grounds.
Sarabjit's hanging was earlier deferred but Burney has asked for further extension.
According to Burney, who visited Sarabjit's family in India recently, there is enough evidence to show Sarabjit may have been falsely convicted in a bombing case.
Meanwhile, Indian authorities have established contact with Pakistan's new government on the issue of its national Sarabjit Singh and are hopeful that he will be shown clemency.
The execution of Sarabjit - sentenced to death for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 - was deferred for 30 days by President Pervez Musharraf so that the new government could review his case. Sarabjit was originally set to be hanged on April 1.
Official sources said the Indian government had taken up Sarabjit's case with the new coalition government led by the Pakistan People's Party shortly after it assumed office last month. The Indian government is now hopeful that Sarabjit will be shown clemency, the sources said.
''The Pakistan government is aware that there is cross-party support in India for the plea for clemency for Sarabjit. Though there are no indications as yet from the Pakistan government, we are hopeful that he will be shown clemency,'' a source said.
Sarabjit's Pakistani lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid is expected to make another appeal for clemency to the new government and the condemned man's relatives will arrive in Pakistan soon to meet him, the sources said.
