Pakistan President stays disabled convict’s execution

Amid appeals from rights groups, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday stayed the execution of a disabled convicted murderer who was set to be hanged in a Faislabad jail the same day.

The President stayed the execution of 43-year-old Abdul Basit for two months due to his ailment, according to a statement issued by the presidency.

“The President has ordered an inquiry into the health condition of the convict,” the statement read. “The President said that the basic human rights must be upheld at all costs.”

The action came hours after the Lahore high court dismissed a petition seeking suspension of death warrants against Basit, who is paralysed from the waist down.

Basit contracted tubercular meningitis in prison and, according to a medical board report, the illness has left him bedridden.

His counsel submitted before the court that it is necessary by law for a prisoner to be healthy before his hanging. Prison rules also require that a prisoner stand on the gallows in order to be hanged.

After the court order, Basit’s sister, Asma Mazhar, said she and her mother had gone to see him on Tuesday for the last time. “We found him helpless and quiet,” she said.