RAWALPINDI- The Lahore High Court's (LHC) Rawalpindi bench today stayed the convictions of five prisoners, who were handed the death penalty for involvement in an attack on an army camp in Gujrat in 2012, over a petition filed by the counsel of one of the convicts.
Justice Arshad Mahmood Tabassum of the LHC heard the petition filed by Advocate Laiq Khan Swati, who told the court that his client Ahsan Azim was not provided with any information pertaining to the case including the charge sheet, summary of evidence and trial proceedings despite requests submitted earlier.
He said neither the accused were given a right to hire a counsel for their defense nor were they provided with copy of the court ruling. He added that his client's family members were suddenly told to hold a last meeting with the convict as he was going to be hanged.
After hearing the arguments, the judge issued notices to both the parties and stayed executions of prisoners. Ahsan Azim, hailing from Wah Cantt, is currently held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
Kamran, Umar Nadeem, Ahsan Azim, Amir Yousuf and Asif Idrees were handed out death sentences by a military court for their involvement in an attack on an army camp, which had claimed the lives of at least seven security personnel.
Earlier on Friday, two former military men were executed in the Faisalabad district jail. On Sunday, four more convicts had been executed at a district jail in Faisalabad. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt and his legal team to actively pursue terrorism cases and take steps to end stay against executions.