Pakistan suspends execution of civilian ordered by military court
[JURIST] A Pakistani court on Tuesday suspended the execution of a civilian man sentenced to death by a military court after a legal challenge, the first of such challenges since the Pakistan Supreme Court [official website] allowed these hearings. The Peshawar High Court [official website] suspended the sentence [Reuters report] and demanded more details be presented by military and government officials surrounding Haider Ali's arrest in 2009. The military claims that Ali is a terrorist and was convicted of being involved in terrorist acts, including suicide bombings, in April of this year. Rights activists and others have criticized the legality of such military hearings as denying civilians their right to a fair trial. However, on August 5, the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] to allow military trials for cases involving suspects of terrorism. The ruling followed a number of petitions to allow such trials, and is seen as a victory to the government that has been increasing its efforts against terrorism in past years. This cleared the way for the military court to sentence Ali to death.
Pakistan's use of the death penalty since December has received a lot criticism throughout the world. When the six-year death penalty moratorium was lifted [JURIST report] last December, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the death penalty would only be applied to terrorism-related cases. However, in March the Pakistan Ministry of Interior lifted the country's moratorium on the death penalty, permitting hangings for all prisoners [JURIST report] who have exhausted all possible appeals. Amnesty International called on Pakistan in January to end the increase in executions following the Peshwar school attack, and in February the rights group said that use of the death penalty in Pakistan is undergoing a "disturbing and dangerous" [JURIST reports] escalation after the execution of two men convicted of non-terrorism offenses. Also in March a judge in Pakistan's Lahore District and Sessions Court sentenced [JURIST report] an offender to death for blasphemy. Additionally in March, Pakistani authorities hanged 12 men [JURIST report], the largest number of people executed in a single day since the moratorium was lifted.
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