Death-row Briton gets reprieve: Driver’s family to move SC

[Lahori paa jee]

Family members of a taxi-driver killed 18 years ago by a British national have expressed outrage at President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to commute his death sentence and said they would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. President Musharraf commuted Mirza Tahir Hussain’s death sentence on Wednesday following a well-orchestrated campaign by his family, friends and politicians in Britain. The move came after a series of negotiations by Pakistani officials to persuade the victim’s family to reach a settlement failed.

“It is an unfair and unlawful decision,” Abdul Ghani, father of the taxi-driver, Jamshed Khan, told Dawn. “Not only all the courts in the country had upheld the death sentence but even the president had turned down the mercy petition of the accused earlier this year.”

Mr Ghani said in the present situation all he could do was to … seek justice from the apex court.

Advocate Malik Rab Nawaz told Dawn that the taxi-driver’s relative Sobhat Khan had contacted him regarding the appeal and added that they would contend in the appeal that the president did not have powers to commute the death sentence and it was the prerogative only of the heirs of the deceased to pardon the killer or reach a compromise.

Mr Ghani said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain had met him in June to seek pardon for Mr Hussain but he had refused. Federal Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah told the media that the ministry had received the president’s order and forwarded it to the Punjab home department which, with the prison staff, would calculate the period Mr Hussain had spent in the jail. He would be released if he had completed life sentence, Mr Shah added.

Technically, Mr Hussain has completed a life term as maximum period of imprisonment under life sentence in the country is 25 years and usually a convict awarded a life sentence is freed after maximum 14 years and Mr Hussain has been languishing in prison for 18 years.

Mr Hussain was 18 when he came to Pakistan in 1988 to see his relatives. He hired a taxi at Islamabad airport to take him to his ancestral town near Chakwal. On the way, according to him, the taxi driver and his accomplice, whom he had insisted on taking along for safety, tried to rob him at gunpoint.

Mr Hussain told the trial court that he snatched the gun which accidentally went off during the scuffle and wounded the driver. He said as the driver’s accomplice had fled, he drove the taxi with the wounded driver to a police station. There he narrated his story to the policemen on duty and handed them the pistol. The driver had died by that time.

The authorities and Mr Hussain’s family had offered a handsome amount as blood money to the deceased’s family under Islamic law but it had refused to accept it and insisted on capital punishment for the convict.

Mr Hussain’s cousin went to the Adyala jail on Thursday to meet him but the jail authorities did not allowed the meeting.

The superintendent of Adyala jail, when contacted, said the jail authorities had not received any order from the interior ministry or the President House, adding t hat the legal process took time.

Mr Hussain’s brother in the UK welcomed the decision of the president and said the family members of Mr Hussain were very happy that they would soon meet him.

“I will come to Pakistan to bring my brother to the UK,” he said, adding that all the family members were waiting to see him.

Federal Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah told the media that the ministry had received the president’s order and forwarded it to the Punjab home department which, with the prison staff, would calculate the period Mr Hussain had spent in the jail. He would be released if he had completed life sentence, Mr Shah added.


Source

What the hell. This has never happened in Pakistan before.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Lets check out the events by date

18-19 October 2006

Blair ‘cautions’ Pakistan against hanging British National

British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday to intervene again to halt the hanging of a British national, scheduled during an upcoming royal visit.

Blair warned of "very serious" consequences if the execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain were to go ahead on November-1, coinciding with a planned visit by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

"I hope even at this stage that there is an intervention to ensure this does not take place. I think it would be very serious if it does," Blair said, when asked about the case in the House of Commons.

He noted that he had made a personal representation over the case to Musharraf during a recent visit to London by the Pakistani leader.

"There is a limit to what the President can do, but I hope that he can use the powers that he has," said Blair, adding: "We will continue to make representations right up to the last moment."

Perspective

Hussain, 36, from Leeds in northern England, has spent half his life in jail fighting a death sentence for killing a taxi driver.

The decision on his fate follows three previous stays of execution ordered by Musharraf and comes despite a vocal campaign by Hussain's family to save his life.

Britain's heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife are due to visit Pakistan from October-29 to November-3.

They are scheduled to meet with Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz

Source

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Musharraf weighing options to spare death row Briton: Kasuri

Sunday October 22, 2006 (0900 PST)

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is actively consulting legal advisers and weighing other options to provide reprieve to British national Mirza Tahir Hussain, who has been on death row for the past 18 years for killing a taxi driver, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri told Khaleej Times here during an informal chat.
He said the president was restrained by a verdict of the Federal Shariat Court which has curtailed his authority to grant pardon. But some legal experts have a different interpretation of the judgment that allows such pardon in specific instances. The president wants to ensure that these exceptions also apply in the case of Hussain, Kasuri said.

Official sources said authorities in Pakistan and the UK are hopeful of arriving at a consensus formulation for an extradition treaty between the two countries that effectively deals with the key hurdle of conflicting laws relating to the death penalty.

The bilateral extradition treaty will give both sides the legal cover to extradite people wanted by each other in terrorist acts and other crimes. However, finalisation of the treaty has been delayed by the conflict on the death penalty issue in the laws of the two states.

Kasuri indicated that the review of drafts may be expedited that may help Hussain as well. "Interior and law ministries of Pakistan are in touch with their British counterparts on this matter and are examining the various formulations," sources in the government said.

"Hopefully they would agree on a consensus formulation that would address domestic and legal concerns of both sides," they said. British side hopes that the assurance of pardon in cases involving British citizens may form part of the treaty.

Clarifying UK PM Tony Blair's remarks calling for staying the execution though the media coverage of his reference to the case left an impression that he warned the Pakistan government of the 'serious consequences' of the execution.

Kasuri said Blair's words have been twisted by the media as he never gave any warning though he expressed concern over the execution.

Source

 

[Lahori paa jee]

And on 3rd October Mushy had rejected execution plea.

Now during just one and a half month that man is back in Uk.

But Mush continues to say "Dartey nahi hain kisi say"

 

[Keysersoze]

It's messed up. But i find that the death penalty uncivilised. And I doubt everyone who is executed in Pakistan is guilty. From what i have heard the evidence is a bit dubious.

 

[A.Rahman]

It's messed up. But i find that the death penalty uncivilised. And I doubt everyone who is executed in Pakistan is guilty. From what i have heard the evidence is a bit dubious.

your opinion can change if you loose your loved one to the murderer.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

It's messed up. But i find that the death penalty uncivilised. And I doubt everyone who is executed in Pakistan is guilty. From what i have heard the evidence is a bit dubious.

That may be because so far we have only heard one side of the story.

I feel the law should be same for everyone be it a Pakistani or a Britisher. If Mirza Tahir Hussain has been pardoned so should everyone else be pardoned who is awaiting death.

Remember the hurry in which Mush Suicide attackers were hanged within weeks after the courts judgement.

Apart from that Britishers claim to have abolished death penalty yet the Foreign Minister of UK was the very first international to come forward and appreciate Saddam Hussains death sentence

 

[Keysersoze]

Well lets be honest......

The whole Musharraf assassination and Saddam thing are politically motivated.

If you want to have a death penalty there should be a more robust legal system that is immune to political interference. plus safe gaurds to prevent "speed executions"

 

[sparten]

Well lets be honest......

The whole Musharraf assassination and Saddam thing are politically motivated.

If you want to have a death penalty there should be a more robust legal system that is immune to political interference. plus safe gaurds to prevent "speed executions"

Er. what speed exceution? The guy was first convicted back in 1990. And his date was not set until 2000 (first time). On average there is a dely of 8 years between setence and execution. And almost all death sentences are confirmed by the Supreme Court.

 

[Keysersoze]

I was refering to the other executions.......(the Musharraf ones for example)

And from what I have read about the whole case it was on very dubious ground.
Bear in mind there was a series called "Karachi cops" on tv here a few years back and there was shown various "interogations" which involved beating the living hell out of the suspect.

I suspect that your outrage has more to do with the fact that he came from a country that sticks up for it's civilians when there is a great deal of doubt as to the veracity of the charges. (check how many Pakistanis get beheaded in Saudi)

Oh and my cousin got similar treatment whilst travelling to Pakistan (robbed and and beaten by a cab driver) so I would give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Srirangan]

What about those Pashtun boys who died in the Air strike? Bajour was it? Those were extra judicial killings, but when you guys have a strong case against a fellow and the courts give a verdict he's frickin' let off because of the Goras.

 

[Keysersoze]

Strong case? I'm sorry you must have some extra information that we are not privy to. please share.

To be frank i have great doubts about the legal systems in most of south asia.
If you don't have sufficent proof (or dodgy proof as in this case)then you shouldn't be executing people.

Rather than complain if the system is lopsided for outsiders. How about you create a system that is fair for everyone regardless of class and wealth?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/5219426.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/5019660.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5164242.stm

 

[Srirangan]

Strong case? I'm sorry you must have some extra information that we are not privy to. please share.

To be frank i have great doubts about the legal systems in most of south asia.
If you don't have sufficent proof (or dodgy proof as in this case)then you shouldn't be executing people.

Rather than complain if the system is lopsided for outsiders. How about you create a system that is fair for everyone regardless of class and wealth?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/5219426.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/5019660.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5164242.stm

See the parallels here. Extra Judicial killings of tribal's is lawful. And a guy who has been convicted is spared?

What's the point of even having a judicial system if Musharraf (the Army Chiefs) decides it all.

 

[sigatoka]

It's messed up. But i find that the death penalty uncivilised.

Why do you consider the death penalty uncivilised, im curious.

 

[Keysersoze]

Ok this is a complex issue so i will try and put my point across.

There are a number of justifications for the death penalty.here are a few against.

Deterrence---The simple fact is that most murderers don't think that they will be caught so they are not deterred from commiting their crimes.

Retribution--- Most times it could be seen that the reason for the death penalty has to do with revenge. And as Ghandi said.."An eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth will leave everyone blind and toothless" (I paraphrased that so forgive the accuracy)

Innocence ---Can you always 100% garauntee guilt? even with fair and impartial courts errors are made frequently and the death penalty is irrevocable.

Fairness --- Ever noticed the people who get executed tend to be the poorer or badly represented elements of society?

I am against it for the following reasons.....And before someone brings the "what if it was a member of your family murdered" to the table. Let me pre-empt it with the following....I would want the person to rot slowly doing hard labour not to murder them.