Pakistan Reinstates Death Penalties
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Jumat, 19 Oktober 2018 18:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pakistani Prime Minister announced on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 that his administration has decided to lift the moratorium on death penalties - exactly one day after Taliban militias stormed an Army public school and slaughtered 132 students along with nine teaching staff.
"The decision to lift the moratorium has been agreed by the Prime Minister," said a spokesperson for the Pakistani government, Mohiuddin Wan, on Wednesday.
According to Mohiuddin, the lifting of the moratorium was discussed in a cabinet meeting, in response to intense media scrutiny over the government's commitment to end the Taliban militant rebellion. At the meeting, it was agreed that the death penalty is to be reintroduced for those who had been convicted of aiding and abetting in terrorist activities.
Project Pakistan, a legal aid foundation, said that the term 'terrorism' is very loosely defined under Pakistan's legal code. As a result, around 17,000 so-called terrorism cases being heard at the special tribunal for terrorism has become stalled. The foundation also noted that harsh actions against those convicted of terrorism did not result in a decline in terrorist activities in Pakistani soil.
Previously on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, a group of militants launched an assault on an Army public school in Peshawar. As a result, 141 lives were lost, the majority of which were students at the school.
REUTERS | IRA GUSLINA SUFA