FEATURED POST

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Pakistan: Saulat Mirza Hanged in Machh Jail

Published
Saulat Mirza
Saulat Mirza
May 12, 2015: Death-row prisoner Saulat Mirza was executed at Machh jail today at 4:30 AM for the murder of former KESC managing director Shahid Hamid, his driver and guard in 1997, raising the total number of executions to 101 since Pakistan reversed the self-imposed moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014 after the Taliban school massacre.

His body has been shifted from the jail in an ambulance to an Edhi cold storage in Quetta.

A Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight will bring his body to Karachi in the afternoon.

Earlier today, all arrangements in this connection were firmed up while, according to jail officials, the security was further tightened around the jail and nakas were erected at all the inlets to the town.

Judicial magistrate Mach Hidayatullah supervised the hanging.

On May 11 death row prisoner Saulat Mirza met his family for the last time, a day before his scheduled execution.

Saulat's brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews were among the relatives who arrived at the Machh jail to meet the triple-murder convict.

According to prison sources, between 25 to 30 relatives met Saulat in groups of six in a room at the jail.

Years after the assassination, the murder case of the KESC MD drew media attention once again when his confessed killer Saulat Mirza, a former MQM worker, made startling disclosures in a video released hours before his scheduled execution in March.

His hanging was postponed multiple times since television channels aired his video statement, in which he claimed he was ordered by MQM chief Altaf Hussain to kill the KESC MD.

The MQM denies any involvement to the killing.

The wife of the condemned prisoner, Nighat Malik, had appealed to defer the execution of her husband for 2-3 months, maintaining that he is a key witness and his execution would lead to evidence being buried with him.

But last week, the Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed a petition seeking to defer Saulat’s execution and reopening the murder case of MD KESC Shahid Hamid.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi had earlier this month issued new death warrant for Saulat Mirza’s execution at the Machh Jail on May 12.

Sources: pakistanherald.com, May 12, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Pakistan
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.
Read more

Iran sentences popular rapper to death for supporting Mahsa Amini protests

Published
Image
An Iranian court has sentenced to death a popular rapper jailed for more than a year and a half for supporting nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death, local media reported Wednesday . "Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death on the charge of corruption on Earth," the singer's lawyer Amir Raisian said, quoted by the reformist Shargh newspaper.
Read more

Malaysia urged to extend moratorium on executions until full abolition of death penalty

Published
Image
PETALING JAYA: Amnesty International Malaysia has commended Malaysia for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and for imposing a moratorium on the execution of the death sentence, which has led to an overall decrease in the use of the death penalty by the courts. However, the rights group urged the government to extend the moratorium on executions until the death penalty is fully abolished.
Read more

Could Moscow attack suspects face execution in Belarus?

Published
Image
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
Read more

Iraq executes 13 on ‘vague’ terrorism charges

Published
Image
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Wednesday criticized Iraqi authorities for carrying out the death sentences of 13 men on the same day, saying the prisoners were denied fair trial, and expressed concern that many others had been executed in secret. A total of 13 prisoners were executed in Dhi Qars Nasiriyah central prison on Monday, and scores more have been executed since April 10, said the Amnesty report citing activists and lawyers of the death row prisoners.
Read more

Iran | 9 prisoners executed in a single day

Published
Image
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.  
Read more

Kansas | Judge denies Carr brothers’ request for new sentence in death penalty murder case

Published
Image
Kansas - A judge has denied a request by death-row inmates Jonathan and Reginald Carr to be resentenced in a December 2000 crime spree that included five murders. The Carr brothers filed motions in November requesting a new hearing to determine whether the evidence supports the death penalty. Their lawyers also sought new pre-sentencing reports and journal entries in the case.
Read more