Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, convicted for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990 in Pakistan, has sent a fresh clemency appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari.
Sarabjit has filed his mercy petition for the fifth time.
Attached to Sarabjit Singh’s mercy petition, signatures of over 100,000 Indians and two letters addressed to Zardari by Delhi’s Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari and Syed Muhammad Yamin Hashmi, the caretaker of the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
Sarabjit's mercy plea comes days after India's Supreme Court allowed 82-yr-old Pakistani microbiologist Dr Khalil Chisti to travel to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds. The Chisti's release rekindled some hope for Sarabjit's family for his release.
President of Pakistan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking Chisti’s release and repatriation to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds.
Sarabjeet Singh, 49, maintains that it was a case of mistaken identity, since even the FIR was not registered in his name. “I have spent 22 years in the prison for a crime I have not committed,” asserts Singh in his petition. Sarabjeet’s counsel maintained that he had documentary proof that his client was in India at the time of bombings
Recently, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram assured Sarabjit's siter Dalbir Kaur that India will raise the issue during the Secretary-level talks.
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