Pak suspends execution

Islamabad, Jan. 13: Pakistan’s Chief Justice Saqib Nisar has suspended the execution of a mentally ill former policeman, who was scheduled to be hanged on Monday, media reports on said.

Chief Justice Nisar suspended the execution of Khizar Hayat late Saturday night following appeals from the prisoner's mother and human rights advocates calling for the suspension of his capital punishment. The suspension came a day after a district and sessions judge scheduled Hayat’s execution on January 15 at the Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, the Express Tribune reported.

Hayat was sentenced to death in 2003 over the shooting of a fellow officer. He has spent nearly 15 years on death row. Hayat was first diagnosed as a schizophrenic in 2008 by jail medical authorities, Dawn reported. Justice Nisar has also fixed the case for hearing on January 14, following calls from the rights organisations to review Hayat’s case in the court.

“Taking notice of the issue, the chief justice suspended the sentence of the prisoner till further orders and fixed the matter for hearing on Jan 14,” the paper said, quoting a statement from the Supreme Court.