A man who had claimed that he was 15 when he was arrested for a murder he did not commit was executed on Tuesday at a jail in Sargodha.
Ansar Iqbal had said he and a friend were arrested 16 years ago for the murder of a neighbour.
The victim’s family said Iqbal killed the neighbour over an argument at a cricket match but Iqbal said police framed him by planting two guns at his house.
Iqbal’s lawyer, Munir Basit, had earlier confirmed his client had been tried as an adult and had been notified he was to be executed at Sargodha jail. “He has received his black warrant in the concerned jail,” he said.
The convict was hanged in the morning in Sargodha. His body had been handed over to his family, authorities said.
Pakistani law does not allow the execution of juvenile offenders.
The court did not examine Iqbal’s old school records and a new birth certificate issued this year which give his age at 14 and 15 respectively, saying the documents were submitted too late.
Record keeping in Pakistan is poor and records are easily forged.
“All the documentary evidence provided to the courts during his trial or appeal indicates that he was a child at the time of the alleged offence; however, the courts have chosen to believe the estimate of police officers that he was in his 20s,” British legal aid group Reprieve said in a statement.
Pakistan brought back hanging in December as a way to crack down on militancy after Taliban gunmen killed more than 130 pupils at an army-run school.
But very few of the 240 people hanged since had any links to militancy.
Most, like Iqbal, were convicted of murder. Many of their families say they were falsely accused and too poor to get good lawyers. Few, if any, wealthy convicts have been hanged.
Pakistan’s criminal justice system is widely considered corrupt. Police frequently ask for bribes and few are trained in preserving a crime scene or collecting evidence. Instead, they rely on easily manipulated oral statements. Accusations of torture are common.
Unskilled, poorly paid court-appointed lawyers often fail to examine witnesses or do not turn up for hearings, and tales of judges who ask for bribes are common.
