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Journalism of Courage
After meeting Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore jail, Pakistan Law Minister Farooq Naek on Monday said he would consider the Indian death row prisoner’s case giving a ray of hope for his release after spending 17 years behind bars.
Expecting reciprocity, the minister at the same time requested India to look into repatriation of Pakistani prisoners to their country on “humanitarian” grounds.
Naek, who met Sarabjit at the Kot Lakhpat prison in the first contact by a Pakistani minister after the new PPP-led coalition Government assumed office in March, said he had sought the 42-year-old Indian’s file from the jail superintendent so that he could study his case.
The Supreme Court had dismissed Sarabjit’s mercy petition. “After the Supreme Court’s decision, only the President has the powers under Article 45 of the Constitution to pardon or remit his sentence. No one else can do this,” Naek told reporters outside the prison.
“In this connection, as a reciprocity, I request the Indian authorities to consider the cases of Pakistani prisoners on humanitarian basis and repatriate them to Pakistan,” he said.
In Amritsar, the family of Sarabjit Singh said they were happy with the “positive attitude” shown by the Pakistan Government in dealing with his case and were hopeful of his early release.
