KARACHI, June 5: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) suspended on Monday the hanging of a murderer till further orders after the victim’s family pardoned him on the eve of execution.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who had issued on May 29 black warrants of Saeed Moeez and fixed June 6 for his hanging till death, stayed the execution on a plea submitted by Mubashir Begum, widow of victim Mirza Aziz Baig, and other legal heirs.
The widow, her son and four daughters appeared before the court and they pardoned the convict, father of two minor sons.
We forgive the murderer in the name of God for what he did, Mubashir Begum told the court.
The widow said she had brought out her children somehow with the grace of God after the murder of her husband.The wife of the murderer has abandoned her two sons who have been going through hell since his conviction, she said.
Saeed Moeez and co-accused, Mohammed Wasim and Tariq Hussain, who belonged to Mohajir Quami Movement, were condemned to death on July 14, 1999, by the then judge of the ATC-4, Hussain Bux Khoso, for killing a shopkeeper, Mirza Aziz Baig, on May 2, 1999, when he refused to pay to them Rs3,000 as extortion money (bhatta).
The three convicts later moved an appeal against their conviction in the Sindh High Court, which upheld the death sentence of Saeed and Wasim, and commuted the punishment of Tariq to life imprisonment.
Saeed and Wasim filed appeals against the judgment of the SHC in Supreme Court, which again dismissed the plea of Saeed and upheld his capital punishment. The SC, however, commuted the punishment of Wasim to life imprisonment.
Finally, Saeed moved his mercy petition to the president of Pakistan, who also dismissed his appeal.
On May 26,the jail authorities intimated the ATC about the rejection of convict’s mercy petition by the president and requested the court to issue black warrants for his death sentence.
Deputy superintendent of Central Prison, Khalid Shaikh, told Dawn that they had already completed all preparations for the execution before they received the suspension order of the execution from the court around 2pm.
The convict has again been shifted to death ward from the special cell where a condemned prisoner is kept before execution, he added.
Meanwhile, a legal expert said that as per rules and regulations a death sentence could be suspended for three months. The court may award a 14-year term of rigorous imprisonment to a condemned prisoner even after being pardoned by the legal heirs of the victim, he added.
AFREEN BAIG CASE: The additional district and sessions judge, South, Farzana Anwar Shah, put off the hearing of the Afreen Baig murder case after recording the deposition of prosecution witness.
The judge also reserved till June 8 her order on the bail application of Farooq Mengal, prime accused in the murder case of his wife Afreen Baig.
Mengal is alleged to have masterminded the killing of the TV artiste. The driver of the victim and his wife, who was a maid at Mengal’s house, are co-accused in the case.
Azizullah Shaikh, counsel for Farooq Mengal, also cross-examined prosecution witness, Arif, an employee of the medical store. The PW stated that the driver of Mengal had purchased tranquilisers from his store.
Afreen Baig was killed at her DHA residence allegedly by her driver, Mohammad Bux Umrani, and his wife, Zahida.
Mohammad Bux gave his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate and stated that he had killed the woman on the inducement of her husband, Farooq Mengal.
