Pakistan court stays execution of mentally ill convict
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 12 January 2017 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pakistan court stays execution of mentally ill convict, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a431e.html [accessed 27 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
January 12, 2017
A court in the Pakistani city of Lahore has stayed the execution of a murder convict who was judged last year to be suffering from mental illness.
The Lahore High Court on January 12 ordered the government to provide a new report on the mental health of Khizar Hayat, 55, a spokesman for Justice Project Pakistan told journalists.
Hayat was convicted of murdering a police officer in a land dispute in 2003.
His execution had been scheduled for January 17, but the court ordered a stay until January 30.
Earlier this week, Hayat's mother, Iqbal Bano, urged President Mamnoon Hussain to pardon her son, saying he "doesn't know what is going to happen to him and he's not in a stable state of mind."
"My son needs medical treatment, not execution," she told the Associated Press.
A court medical board in July ruled that Hayat, who is a former police officer, suffers from mental illness.
Pakistan has executed 427 people since 2014, when the authorities reinstated the death penalty after a Taliban attack in Peshawar killed some 150 people, most of them schoolchildren.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
