ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has sent a summary to the Presidency asking for a 30-day stay on the execution of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist Saulat Mirza who was set to be hanged on April 1, according to a statement issued by Prime Minister House.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on Mar 24 had reissued death warrants for Saulat Mirza for execution on April 1.
Mirza was sentenced to death by an ATC in May 1999 for murdering the managing director of then Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) chief Shahid Hamid, his driver Ashraf Brohi and guard Khan Akbar in July 1997.
He was moved along with four high-profile prisoners to the Machh jail, Balochistan, in April 2014.
Last week Mirza's execution was postponed for 72 on a presidential order a few hours before he was to be executed. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had said the target killer’s execution was stayed as “he is not well enough to be executed”.
The administration of Machh central jail had sent a letter to the ATC, seeking fresh death warrants of Saulat Mirza. Superintendent Machh Jail Muhammad Ishaq Zehri had told Dawn.com that, "Death warrant issued earlier has expired after postponement of Mirza's execution."
Saulat Mirza had hurled startling allegations on MQM and its top leadership in a video statement aired on numerous television channels just a few hours before his execution was scheduled to take place.
Mirza had said he was an MQM worker and had received direct orders from MQM leader Babar Ghauri to assassinate KESC chief Shahid Hamid.
“I was summoned at Babar Ghauri’s house where I took Altaf Hussain’s orders via telephone. Altaf Hussain would usually pass on instructions through Babar Ghauri,” he had alleged.
MQM Chief Altaf Hussain had termed the allegations a conspiracy against MQM. and said, "Without any proof or evidence, Saulat Mirza's statement will not have any effect on the party."
Babar Ghauri had also dismissed Mirza’s statement as a “fable” and denied having given any order for a murder.
The overall national political atmosphere of the country stood changed after Mirza's startling statements and the federal government decided to reopen the investigation into the murder of former Karachi Electric Supply Company managing director Shahid Hamid.
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