TRYING TO GET SARABJIT`S HANGING DEFERRED: BURNEY
Chandigarh April 14:
Former Pakistani Minister and leading Human Rights Activist Ansar Burney said he was trying to get Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh`s death sentence further deferred by at least three months.
"I am trying hard to get his (Sarabjit`s) death sentence deferred by three months, at least till July-end," Burney, on a visit to India, said to a news agency. "If we get extension of three months or more, it will be of help to us. We will utilize the time to check the evidence provided by Sarabjit`s family about his innocence," he said.
Sarabjit is on death row for his alleged involvement in serial blasts in Pakistan in 1990 in which at least 14 people were killed. Pakistani authorities have postponed his hanging, which was scheduled for April one, by at least one month.
The former Minister said the Burney trust had recently written a letter to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf urging him to further put off Sarabjit`s execution. "I am also trying to facilitate an early meeting of Sarabjit`s family with the death row prisoner," he said.
Burney, a member of the un human rights council advisory committee, was instrumental in release of another Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh who spent 35 years in a Pakistani prison. Asked if there was any chance of the release of Sarabjit Singh, languishing in a Pakistani prison for 17 years, Burney said "let us not lose hope".
Chandigarh April 14:
Former Pakistani Minister and leading Human Rights Activist Ansar Burney said he was trying to get Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh`s death sentence further deferred by at least three months.
"I am trying hard to get his (Sarabjit`s) death sentence deferred by three months, at least till July-end," Burney, on a visit to India, said to a news agency. "If we get extension of three months or more, it will be of help to us. We will utilize the time to check the evidence provided by Sarabjit`s family about his innocence," he said.
Sarabjit is on death row for his alleged involvement in serial blasts in Pakistan in 1990 in which at least 14 people were killed. Pakistani authorities have postponed his hanging, which was scheduled for April one, by at least one month.
The former Minister said the Burney trust had recently written a letter to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf urging him to further put off Sarabjit`s execution. "I am also trying to facilitate an early meeting of Sarabjit`s family with the death row prisoner," he said.
Burney, a member of the un human rights council advisory committee, was instrumental in release of another Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh who spent 35 years in a Pakistani prison. Asked if there was any chance of the release of Sarabjit Singh, languishing in a Pakistani prison for 17 years, Burney said "let us not lose hope".
