Pakistan halts execution of disabled man

Karachi: Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain has halted the implementation of the death sentence given to a paraplegic convict, Abdul Basit, two months ago.

According to The Dawn, the President ordered an inquiry into the convict’s health.

A press release quoted President Hussain as observing that standards of human rights should not be compromised at any cost.

Basit was convicted of murder in 2009 and his hanging has already been postponed several times after rights groups raised concerns about how a wheelchair-bound man would mount the scaffold.

Amnesty International criticised Islamabad on Tuesday for “shamefully sealing its place among the world’s worst executioners.”

Basit was earlier scheduled to be executed today. (ANI)