Sarabjit Singh shifted from death row cell: Report

Sarabjit, whom Pakistani authorities call Manjit Singh, has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks in Punjab province in 1990.

Sarabjit’s family, which visited Pakistan in 2008 seeking his release, insists that he was wrongly convicted for the attacks.

His execution, initially set for April 1, was deferred for 30 days by former President Pervez Musharraf. This was done so that the new PPP-led government could review his case following India’s appeal for clemency.

After Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter, Pakistani authorities put off Sarabjit’s execution ‘till further orders’.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court and Musharraf had earlier turned down Sarabjit’s mercy petitions.

Pakistan Law Minister Farooq Naek, who met Sarabjit in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail earlier this month, said he had sought the Indian’s file from the prison superintendent so that he could study his case.

The 42-year-old has already spent 17 years behind bars.

Leading Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney, who earlier played a key role in the release of another Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh, recently asked the Pakistan government to commute all death sentences, including that of Sarabjit, to life imprisonment, saying a majority of death row prisoners had been wrongly convicted.

It’s a Diwali gift for me: Sarabjit’s sister

Amritsar, October 28:

“Pakistan has given me a Diwali gift”, this is how Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh currently lodged in a Pakistani prison, reacted to reports that his brother has been shifted from death row cell to a normal cell in a jail in Lahore.

“Pakistan Government has given me a gift on the occasion of Diwali by shifting my brother from the death cell. Now he can heave a sigh of relief,” Kaur said.

“Now with this, a fresh ray of hope appeared for the safe repatriation of Sarbjit Singh from Pakistan to India”.

She hoped that her brother will celebrate all traditional festivals with his family from next year as the ‘Pakistan Government would definitely repatriate him safely’.

“I am thankful to the entire leadership of Pakistan Government including Prime Minister, President, opposition, masses and media of India and Pakistan,” Kaur said.

Kaur expressed hope that both Indian and Pakistan would definitely come out with a positive remedy for the repatriation of Sarbjit Singh.

She claimed that that her brother Sarabjit had crossed over to Pakistan inadvertently in 1990.

Sarabjit, whom Pakistani authorities call Manjit Singh, has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks in Punjab province in 1990.