Pakistan delays hanging of paraplegic man

The planned hanging of a paraplegic prisoner convicted of murder in Pakistan has been delayed, his lawyer has said. Abdul Basit could not be hanged in compliance with the jail manual because he is in a wheelchair, a magistrate said when ordering the postponement. Pakistan’s prison guidelines require that a prisoner stand on the gallows. […]

The planned hanging of a paraplegic prisoner convicted of murder in Pakistan has been delayed, his lawyer has said.
Abdul Basit could not be hanged in compliance with the jail manual because he is in a wheelchair, a magistrate said when ordering the postponement.
Pakistan’s prison guidelines require that a prisoner stand on the gallows.
Rights groups say hanging Basit would constitute cruel and degrading treatment.
Abdul Basit, 43, is paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair after becoming ill in prison.
Pakistan reintroduced the death penalty in December 2014 and has hanged 239 people since.
Basit was convicted six years ago of murder and was to have been hanged in Lahore last month – but that was postponed.
It is unclear if any time limit was imposed on the most recent postponement.
“Why do they want his execution? He is already severely sick, what will they get from his hanging?” Basit’s mother, Nusrat Perveen, told AFP.