APS attack: PM advises President to reject mercy pleas of four convicted terrorists
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif forwarded an advice to President Mamnoon Hussain.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday advised President Mamnoon Hussain to reject the mercy pleas of all the four convicted terrorists involved in attack on Army Public School in Peshawar.
The four terrorists including Sabeel alias Yahya, Abdu Salam, Hazrat Ali and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman alias Najibullah were sentenced to death by military courts in August this year after they were convicted of involvement in the Taliban massacre of 134 children at an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.
Army says the men belonging to a banned organization played a major role in planning and facilitating the school attack and several others.
In his advice, the Prime Minister stated that Pakistan has changed after the Peshawar tragedy. He said the perpetrators involved in brutal and merciless killing of our children do not deserve any mercy.
The premier said: “By rejecting the mercy petition of these terrorists, I am also reflecting the will of the people and honouring the promise made to the families of my children who lost their lives in the Army Public School tragedy.”
The December school attack is seen as having hardened Pakistan’s resolve to fight militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan.
Authorities lifted a six-year moratorium on executions last December and since that time than 200 convicts have been executed.
Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals process.
Supporters argue that the death penalty is the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy in the country.
