|
New Delhi: India on Tuesday sought clemency for Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner sentenced to death by hanging in Pakistan, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying he had taken up the matter at the "highest level" in Islamabad.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told both houses of parliament that the government had made another appeal to Pakistan to grant clemency to Sarabjit Singh on "humanitarian grounds". He said Islamabad had been urged to "take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of this case".
Interceding on similar lines, Manmohan Singh told Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal his government was making all possible efforts to seek a reprieve for Sarabjit Singh.
In an obvious reference to President Pervez Musharraf, who alone can grant clemency, the prime minister said he had taken up the matter at the "highest level" in Pakistan.
Terrorism charges
The Pakistan Supreme Court upheld the capital sentence awarded to the Indian in 2006 on charges of committing terrorist acts in Pakistan. His family denies the charges levelled against him.
Mukherjee pointed out that both countries have put in place institutional arrangements to better the situation of prisoners. These have included the setting up of a joint judicial committee and the visit of an Indian delegation to Pakistan last year in search of missing Indian defence personnel.
"It is in this context and in the same spirit that we appeal to the government of Pakistan to treat Sarabjit Singh's case on humanitarian grounds," he said.
Sarabjit's family has been lobbying top leaders for high-level intervention.
|
