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28 March 2024

Pakistan executes another 9 convicts

Published
By AFP

Pakistan hanged nine more convicted murderers Tuesday, bringing the total number of executions to around 250 since the government controversially lifted a moratorium on the death penalty last December.

Pakistan lifted its six-year ban on executions as part of a crackdown on militancy following an attack by Taliban militants on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in which they killed over 150 people -- mostly children.

The latest executions took place in Lahore, Attock, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Bahawalpur in Punjab province.

"Three convicts on death row were hanged in Attock, two each in Faisalabad and Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore, and one each in Bahawalpur and Sargodha jails," Chaudhry Arshad Saeed, an adviser to Punjab's chief minister for prison affairs, told AFP.

Several other officials separately confirmed the hangings.

Supporters argue that the death penalty is the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy in the country.

But critics say the legal system is unjust, with rampant police torture, poor representation for victims and unfair trials.