Burney terms Sarabjit case weak, calls for clemency

Making a last ditch effort to save Sarabjit Singh, former Pakistani human rights minister Ansar Burney petitioned President Pervez Musharraf seeking clemency for the death row prisoner saying his 8216;biggest crime may have been his Indian nationality8217;.

Making a last ditch effort to save Sarabjit Singh, former Pakistani human rights minister Ansar Burney petitioned President Pervez Musharraf seeking clemency for the death row prisoner saying his 8216;biggest crime may have been his Indian nationality8217;.

Burney in the mercy petition pleaded that Sarabjit8217;s death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment or he be released since the case against him was 8216;weak8217; and there was 8216;little to justify the death sentence8217; awarded to him by a Pakistani court in 1991.

Sarabjit was given Capital punishment for his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990.

Burney, who is a member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council, said that 8220;with so many facts in favour of Sarabjit and so little to justify the death sentence awarded to him, it seemed Sarabjit8217;s biggest crime may have been his Indian nationality as no unbiased court would ever sentence a man to death in such a weak case8221;.

Sarabjit8217;s execution was deferred for 30 days by Musharraf last month so that Pakistan8217;s new government could review his case following appeals for clemency from the Indian government. He was originally set to be hanged on April 1.

Burney said he had made 8220;several legal arguments in favour of Sarabjit8221; and these 8220;meant that Sarabjit could not legally be hanged8221;. He said he had informed Musharraff that a key witness in the case, a man named Shaukat Salim, had said in a TV interview that he had been forced by police to testify against the Indian national.

Salim had said he was forced to testify even though he 8220;had never seen Sarabjit in his life, let alone see him commit an act of terrorism8221;, Burney said.