Convict set free after spending 21 years on death row

Published July 1, 2020
Iqbal was only 17 years old in 1998 when he was arrested and consequently sentenced to death a year later. — Dawn archives
Iqbal was only 17 years old in 1998 when he was arrested and consequently sentenced to death a year later. — Dawn archives

KARACHI: Muhammad Iqbal, who spent the last 21 years on death row for a crime he was convicted of committing when he was a juvenile, has been released, according to the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP).

The JPP is a non-profit, human rights law firm that provides pro-bono legal advice, representation and investigative services to the most vulnerable prisoners facing the harshest punishments.

Iqbal was only 17 years old in 1998 when he was arrested and consequently sentenced to death a year later, the advocacy group said in a statement issued on his release.

In 2000, Pakistan passed the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), making it illegal for juveniles to be handed the death sentence.

A presidential notification of 2001 subsequently provided remission to all juveniles sentenced prior to the ordinance. However, Iqbal continued to languish on death row despite his proven juvenility, the JPP said.

A letter, it added, was written by the Punjab government to the Lahore High Court in 2003, listing Iqbal as one of the prisoners entitled to remission.

Several human rights groups and United Nations special rapporteurs sent a letter to the Pakistani government in March seeking leniency, asking that Iqbal’s death sentence be commuted. The letter stated that he was charged with murder and robbery when he was just 17.

“Two decades later, the Lahore High Court had finally acknowledged that Iqbal was wronged and did not deserve to be on death row,” it said.

His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in February 2020 and Iqbal was released from jail on June 30, 2020, after it was established that he has already served a life term.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...