Mercy pleas of convicted terrorists rejected in Pakistan

In a significant development after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday lifted the moratorium on death sentences in terrorist cases, President Mamnoon Hussain has turned down mercy petitions of eight convicted terrorists.

The mercy petitions were pending in the presidency since 2012. Wednesday, the president rejected these mercy petitions by exercising his powers, Dawn reported citing a presidential source.

Following rejection of these appeals, orders of execution have been passed on to various prisons for hanging those convicted.