After weeks of appeals, its now official, Sarabjit Singh, the Indian national on death row in Pakistan will not hang at least not for the time being.
Pakistan has postponed the hanging of Sarabjit Singh, Indian national on death row in Pakistan till further order. The order from Pakistan's interior minister came on Friday night.
Now, there is hope that Sarabjit's death sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment. He has already served eighteen years.
Sarabjit, whose family has said that he is a victim of mistaken identity, was to be hanged on April 1 after being convicted of involvement in 1990 Lahore blasts. His execution was first delayed and now it has been put off indefinitely.
For Sarabjit Singh's family, it is a celebration time. When they had met him in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail last week they feared they might never see him alive again. But on Friday night, the Pakistan government delayed his execution until further notice.
President Musharraf's interior office told NDTV, ''The law and interior ministries will examine the stay and give their final recommendations to the president. There is no time limit for this.''
But it is still unclear what this really means. Could it be that his sentence will be commuted to life, or that he could get a full pardon? Or could it just mean that the execution is on hold until the Pakistan government takes a final decision?
Pakistan's new government has demanded that President Musharraf scrap the death penalty with immediate effect. And just a few days ago, Nawaz Sharif specifically asked for clemency for Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds.
Sources in the Indian government have said that the step is not surprising, especially after the political pressure. In fact, the government has already made several appeals for clemency for Sarabjit.
Hope for Sarabjit, family relieved
After weeks of appeals, its now official, Sarabjit Singh, the Indian national on death row in Pakistan will not hang at least not for the time being.
Pakistan has postponed the hanging of Sarabjit Singh, Indian national on death row in Pakistan till further order. The order from Pakistan's interior minister came on Friday night.
Now, there is hope that Sarabjit's death sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment. He has already served eighteen years.
Sarabjit, whose family has said that he is a victim of mistaken identity, was to be hanged on April 1 after being convicted of involvement in 1990 Lahore blasts. His execution was first delayed and now it has been put off indefinitely.
For Sarabjit Singh's family, it is a celebration time. When they had met him in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail last week they feared they might never see him alive again. But on Friday night, the Pakistan government delayed his execution until further notice.
President Musharraf's interior office told NDTV, ''The law and interior ministries will examine the stay and give their final recommendations to the president. There is no time limit for this.''
But it is still unclear what this really means. Could it be that his sentence will be commuted to life, or that he could get a full pardon? Or could it just mean that the execution is on hold until the Pakistan government takes a final decision?
Pakistan's new government has demanded that President Musharraf scrap the death penalty with immediate effect. And just a few days ago, Nawaz Sharif specifically asked for clemency for Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds.
Sources in the Indian government have said that the step is not surprising, especially after the political pressure. In fact, the government has already made several appeals for clemency for Sarabjit.
