Pakistani death row convicts file plea over execution

Two Pakistani death row convicts have approached the Supreme Court in a bid to halt their executions on a plea that they have already served life sentences and cannot be punished for the same crime twice.

In a joint petition, moved through their counsel Mohammad Arshad Bhatti, the gang rape convicts maintained that it was not their fault if the death sentence awarded to them by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) was not carried out over the past 17 years, Dawn online reported Wednesday.

In the petition, Abid Maqsood and Sanaullah alias Billu asked the court: "Whether the delay in non-execution of death sentence is on the part of the accused or on the part of the executive?"

Both Maqsood and Sanaullah were convicted and sentenced to death June 24, 1998.

They were charged with raping a woman Aug 28, 1997.

Subsequently, they moved jail appeals, which were rejected by the Supreme Court Sep 18 and 19, 2006.

Convicted in the rape case, Maqsood and Sanaullah said they have already served a life sentence.

Eventually, both men filed mercy pleas with the president and, according to the petition, their pleas are still pending.

Since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on death sentences last week following the Peshawar school attack, a total of six convicts have been hanged.