Pakistan executes 14 prisoners in 24 hours

Multan - Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism, but in March they were extended to all capital offences.

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By AFP

Published: Wed 21 Oct 2015, 4:20 PM

Last updated: Wed 21 Oct 2015, 7:59 PM

Pakistan on Wednesday hanged at least five more men for murder, an official said, bringing the total number of people executed in just 24 hours to 14.

The latest executions took place in cities of Lahore, Bahawalpur, Toba Tek Singh, Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan in central Punjab province.

"One convict was hanged in each jail in the five cities," a senior prisons official, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

On Tuesday, Pakistan executed nine convicts, also in prisons in Punjab.

The hangings brought the tally of executions to more than 250 since the Pakistan ended a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in December, after Taleban militants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school in the restive northwest.

Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism, but in March they were extended to all capital offences.

The European Union, the United Nations and human rights campaigners have all urged Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium.

Amnesty International estimated in December that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted their appeals.

AFP

Published: Wed 21 Oct 2015, 4:20 PM

Last updated: Wed 21 Oct 2015, 7:59 PM

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