Mirza Tahir Hussain

Mirza Tahir Hussain (born 1 June 1970) is a British man released on 17 November 2006 after spending 18 years on death row in Pakistan for the murder of a taxicab driver named Jamshed Khan in 1988, a crime which he says he committed in self-defence, as Khan pulled out a gun and tried to sexually assault him. In the ensuing struggle, the gun went off, fatally injuring Khan. Mirza was held in the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. His representative is Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West.

Conviction

His conviction was quashed by the Pakistani Supreme Court, but he was then found guilty by The Federal Sharia Court. He was due to be hanged on 1 June 2006, but this was delayed supposedly due to clashes with a scheduled visit to the country from Prince Charles. A new date of 3 August 2006 was delayed until 1 September 2006, reportedly to give Mr Hussain's family time to negotiate blood money with the relatives of the victim - a practice under Islamic law. The execution was again delayed, and set for 1 October 2006 at 0500 BST^{[disambiguation needed ]}. However, the execution was again delayed, reportedly because it is the holy month of Ramadan.

In spite of a clemency plea by Prince Charles, Mirza was initially given only a two month stay of execution with the new date for execution set for 31 December 2006. However, intervention by Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan resulted in commutation to a life sentence. [1] Under Pakistani law, this equated to a 14 year term. Since Mirza had already served 18 years, he was released.

On 17 November President Musharraf announced that Mirza had been released. He has since returned to the United Kingdom.[2] The mother of his victim had previously threatened to set herself on fire if he did not hang.[3]

Quotes

Mirza Hussain

• "Please Mr Blair, take me home - I have suffered enough. My life is to be terminated. I miss my mum, my brother, my nephews, my elders, teachers, family and friends"
• "I appeal to the conscience and good humanity of President Musharraf to pardon or commute my death sentence. I also call upon Tony Blair to use the relationship Britain has with Pakistan to bring me home."

Zarvari Bibi

(the dead man’s mother)

• "I visit the graveyard every day and spend the whole day sitting near [my son’s] grave and return in the evening. God has done justice and it should be pursued and they should also provide justice. I demand it from them. They should do what is right and what is the will of God. The case has been decided by all sides and that decision should be implemented."

Family & friends

• "The President can pardon my brother if he chooses. He is empowered by the Pakistan constitution - it is nothing to do with dictatorship" - Amjad Hussain (brother)
• "repugnant, medieval and barbaric" - Amjad Hussain
• "This is psychological torture, it's die another day...we've been going through this for the last 18 years and the effect on the family is devastating" - Amjad Hussain
• "Why would somebody go all the way from the UK just to murder a taxi driver?" - Amjad Hussain
• "At last these 18 years of nightmare appear to be coming to an end." Amjad Hussain.

Politicians

• "I am not a dictator. I cannot violate a court judgement, whether you like the court or not" - Pervez Musharraf
• "This is a complex and sensitive case. President Musharraf made it very clear to me that he did not want my constituent to hang, that he had closely examined the case, and that he had asked his staff to find a way out" - Edward McMillan-Scott, MEP for Yorkshire and Humber
• "travesty of justice" - Greg Mulholland, Leeds MP

Human rights groups

• "There are serious doubts about the safety of Mirza Tahir Hussain's conviction and he still faces execution in a matter of weeks" - Tim Hancock, Amnesty International
• "Sentenced to death on the basis of fabricated evidence and double jeopardy, his execution would be an appalling travesty of justice" - Catherine Wolthuizen, Fair Trials Abroad

Sources

BBC News

• 18/11/06 [4]
• 01/10/06 [5]
• 12/09/06 [6]
• 07/09/06 [7]
• 16/08/06 [8]
• 01/08/06 [9]
• 27/07/06 [10]
• 21/07/06 [11]
• 26/05/06 [12]

See also

• Capital punishment in Pakistan
• Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
• Human rights in Pakistan
• Sharia

References

• BBC News - Death row man's execution delayed - 19/10/06
• BBC News - Death row man's 'nightmare ends' - 16/11/06
• BBC News - Fateful trip sealed man's future - 16/11/06
• BBC News - Death row man 'being counselled' - 18/11/06

External links

• Amnesty UK - Death Penalty - urgent appeal against execution of Mirza Hussain
• Amnesty UK - Commute death sentence of Mirza Tahir Hussain
• The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain - Muslim Parliament expresses concern over Briton on death row in Pakistan 10/05/06
• Islamic Human Rights Commission - British Muslim Facing Execution in Pakistan - 11/05/06
• The Times Online - Fight to save death row Briton who was acquitted of murder - 19/05/06
• Under Progress - The damning silence over Mirza Tahir Hussain - 3/10/06
• Indymedia Ireland - Pakistan: Death Penalty, Unfair Trial, Right to Life - 12/10/06
• BBC News - Blair pledge over execution case - 18/10/06
• Channel 4 News - Briton's execution timed for Prince Charles tour - 18/10/06
• The Independent - Pakistan names date for execution as pressure grows over prince's visit - 20/10/06
• BBC News - Death row man 'glad to be home' - 18/11/06
• BBC News - Adjusting will be hard for death row man - 18/11/06
• BBC News - Death row man speaks of freedom - 27/11/06
• The Times - Freed after 17 years and home to a hug from the brother who never gave up - 28/11/06

Persondata
Name	Hussain, Mirza
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Date of birth	1 June 1970
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Date of death
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