Death row Briton finally gets clemency
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—President General Pervez Musharraf using his discretionary power Thursday commuted death sentence of a UK national Mirza Tahir Hussain to life imprisonment. Article 45 of the constitution laid down that; “the President shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority”.
The decision was taken after reviewing Tahir’s mercy appeal and his sentence was changed to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds as he had spent half of his life in prison. Earlier, a petition for clemency was sent to the President in 2005 but was declined.
According to a UK news agency, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the UK government and human rights organizations appealed to the President to consider his mercy plea. Beside this, Prince Charles during his visit to Pakistan and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during President Musharraf’s visit to UK last month also raised the matter.
Blair moved forward saying; “Tahir’s execution would be grave decision”. Mirza Tahir Hussain, 36, who has been in detention for 18 years, he was tried and convicted of murdering a taxi driver while traveling to the village of Bhubar from Rawalpindi, on 17 December 1988. The taxi driver reportedly stopped the car and produced a gun and Mirza Tahir, who was 18 years old at the time, was reportedly physically and sexually assaulted by the taxi driver. In the scuffle that followed, the gun went off, and the taxi driver was fatally injured.
Mirza Tahir was sentenced to death in 1989 at the Sessions Court in Islamabad. Following an appeal, this sentence was dismissed by the Lahore High Court, which noted discrepancies in the case. The case was returned to the Sessions Court where Mirza Tahir Hussain was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994. Following a second appeal, the Lahore High Court then dismissed this sentence in 1996, and he was acquitted of all charges against him. A week later, Mirza Tahir Hussain’s case was referred to the Federal Shariat Court on charges from the original case, including robbery involving murder, which fall under Islamic offences against property law. The entire case against Mirza Tahir was reopened, and in 1998, he was sentenced to death by the Federal Shariat Court, despite the acknowledgment that no robbery had taken place due to the taxi being hired.