Pakistan hangs two for murder after resuming executions

MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN // Two men convicted of murder were hanged Friday in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the first executions in the Pakistani portion of the disputed territory in more than 10 years.

Mohammed Riaz and Mohammed Fayaz were executed for killing the son of the advocate general of Kashmir during a robbery attempt in 2004 in Mirpur, one of Pakistani Kashmir’s main cities.

Their deaths brings the number of people hanged in Pakistan to 24 since the government ended a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in December after a Taliban massacre at a school that left more than 150 people dead.

They are the first people to be hanged since the resumption who have no clear link to a terror attack or militant group. Up to now, those executed had all been condemned by military or special anti-terrorism courts.

“They were hanged at 6.30 this morning. Both of them were awaiting executions since 2012, when all their appeals were dismissed,” Irshad Hussain Jarral, jail superintendent in Mirpur, said.

Abdul Hameed Mughal, additional secretary for home affairs in Kashmir, said the executions were the first in the region since January 2005.

“There are 70 other convicts who have been sentenced to death but their mercy petitions are pending with authorities,” Mr Mughal said.

* Agence France-Presse