ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed the attorney general and his legal team to pursue the cases of terrorism on fast-track basis, a government spokesman said on Monday.
The directives were issued shortly after a Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench stayed the execution of five civilian convicts.
The spokesman said that the prime minister also directed that all out efforts should be made to vacate the stay orders against death sentences.
The prime minister said that the government is determined to eliminate terrorism from the country. He said that there should be no mercy for those killing innocent youth, citizens and children.
Earlier, the LCH Rawalpindi bench stayed the execution of five prisoners who were awarded the death penalty by a military court for their involvement in an attack on an army camp in Gujrat in 2012.
The LHC judge Justice Arshad Mahmood Tabassum stayed the execution of Ahsan Azim, Kamran, Umar Nadeem, Amir Yousuf and Asif Idrees over a petition filed by advocate Laiq Khan Swati, the counsel of Ahsan Azim.
Swati told the court that his client was not provided with any information pertaining to the case including the charge sheet, summary of evidence and trial proceedings despite requests submitted earlier.
The counsel of Ahsan Azim further said that his client’s family members were suddenly told to hold a last meeting with the convict as he was going to be hanged.
The five death-row convicts are currently held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
