Sarabjit to be released soon, says his lawyer

Dunya News

Awais Sheikh, lawyer of Sarabjit Singh has said that Pakistan Government has decided to release him.

According to media reports, Sheikh said he was hopeful that Sarabjit Singh would be released before the Indian PM’s visit Manmohan Singh to Pakistan.The Government of Pakistan has, as per my information, decided to release Sarabjit Singh because of many reasons. I have filed a fresh mercy petition immediately after the release of Khalid Chishti, and I have given reasons to the honourable President for pardoning him, commuting his death sentence to life.So, I hope before the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sarabjit Singh will be released. I am positive, said Sheikh.Sheikh said that the establishments and bureaucracy of both India and Pakistan should take note that people of both countries want to live in peace.People of both countries increasingly desire to live in peace and harmony. They want to live like good neighbours. They are fed up with these confrontational policies, said Sheikh.It was earlier reported that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has converted Sarabjit Singhs death sentence to life imprisonment and directed authorities to release him if he had completed his prison term.Sarabjit, 49, who has spent 21 years on death row, is currently being held at Lahores Kot Lakhpat Jail.Sarabjit, who was condemned to death for his involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990, had earlier last month filed a fresh clemency appeal to President Zardari.