Pakistan to partly rescind capital punishment
We will have take important decision if we want to bring the accused back to the country.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that the Pakistan was going to revoke the capital punishment for the accused to be extradited from other countries.
Talking to media in Islamabad on Thursday, he said that Pakistan would make an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code under which capital punishment would not be applicable for the accused to be brought back to the country under extradition treaties with other countries.
Qureshi said that Islamabad is seeking extradition of several Pakistani nationals on different charges, including murder and money laundering, however, Britain and Europe were reluctant to sign any extradition agreement due to Islamabad’s law related to capital punishment.
The foreign minister went on to say that we will have take important decision if we want to bring the accused back to the country.
The development came a day after British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart in London declared that the UK would not sign "politically-motivated" extradition treaties with any country.
Qureshi had assured Hunt that his country would not “misuse” any such agreement, if signed.
Pakistan lifted a de-facto ban on capital punishment in December 2014 following a gruesome militant attack on an army-run school in northwestern Peshawar city, which killed over 140 people, mostly students.
Since then, over 300 convicts, mostly militants, have been sent to gallows. Currently, there are around 8000 death row prisoners in Pakistani jails.
