PAKISTAN: ONLY PRESIDENT CAN PARDON SARABJIT: NAEK

Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek met Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh at the Lahore’s Kot Lakhpath Jail to review his case following the Indian government’s appeal for clemency for him. Naek, shortly after his meeting with Sarabjit, said, "The Ministry of Law and Human Rights would review the case of Sarabjit Singh according to the law and Constitution and he would not be pardoned if found guilty." However, he added that the final authority to pardon any prisoner’s death-sentence was vested in the hands of President of Pakistan. Sarbajit Singh’s case was being reviewed in detail and its report would soon be presented to the President, he assured. He also talked about his party’s decision to improve the situation of prisoners by bringing paradigm changes in the prison manuals.