Appeals of two Pakistani death row convicts rejected

Islamabad, January 9: A Pakistan court on Friday rejected the mercy appeals of two death row convicts, while a similar plea of another was dismissed as his execution was already put on hold. The Sindh High Court cancelled the appeal of convicts Saeed Awan and Behram Khan on the grounds that they did not receive a presidential pardon, Dawn online reported. Khan’s execution will take place on January 13 and of Awan on January 15. The appeal filed by convict Shafqat Hussain was dismissed since the federal interior ministry had already halted his execution. He was sentenced to death in September 2004 for abducting and killing a child. The execution was also halted for three other convicts, who were sentenced to death for an assasition attempt on former president Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi in 2003. The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, headed by Justice Amin Qazi, heard the petition filed by convicts Khalid Mehmood, wazish Ali and Mushtaq Ahmed. Their counsel petitioned the court that they were uble to appeal against the death sentence handed down by the military court. (IANS)