Last Updated: Monday, 05 June 2023, 10:55 GMT

Pakistan executes man who was minor when crime committed

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Publication Date 29 September 2015
Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pakistan executes man who was minor when crime committed, 29 September 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/561d04d66.html [accessed 5 June 2023]
DisclaimerThis 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.

September 29, 2015

The brother of Ansar Iqbal sits in an ambulance next his brother's bodyafter his execution.The brother of Ansar Iqbal sits in an ambulance next his brother's bodyafter his execution.

Pakistan has executed a convict for a murder that rights groups and his family said he committed as a minor.

Officials said Ansar Iqbal was hanged before dawn on September 29 at a prison in the city of Sargodha, in Punjab Province.

Iqbal was sentenced to death in 1996, although his defense claimed he was just 15 when he committed the crime.

Under Pakistani law, anyone under 18 at the time of the crime cannot face the death penalty.

Britain-based rights group Reprieve, who says a birth certificate and school documents proving Iqbal's age were dismissed by the court, issued a last-minute appeal to President Mamnoon Hussain for a pardon.

Some 240 the number of convicts executed by Pakistan since authorities lifted last December a 2008 moratorium on carrying out death sentences.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036

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