PAKISTAN: LHC UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF CONVICT
April 17, 2017: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld the death sentence of a convict, Moavia, and reduced the capital punishment of another, Abdullah, to life-imprisonment over allegedly killing 94 people and leaving over 150 men and children injured during an attack on Ahmadi place of worship place in Model Town in 2010. Muawia and Abdullah had filed appeals challenging their conviction. They took the plea that they were innocent. A deputy prosecutor general, while opposing the appeal, said that the trial court had sentenced both to death for allegedly killing Ahmadis at their worship place. He asserted that both did not deserve any leniency. After hearing both sides, the court upheld death sentence given to Muawia and converted death sentence of Abdullah to life-imprisonment. On January 17, 2015, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced to death two men, Moavia and Abdullah, for a deadly attack on an Ahmadi place of worship in 2010. The ATC had sentenced Abdullah to death on nine counts, and Muawia on seven counts. Both were also sentenced to a fine of Rs 3.3 million. (Sources: dailytimes.com.pk, 17/04/2017)
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