Islamabad: A court in Pakistan has issued a death warrant to a mentally unwell prisoner, paving the way for his execution on June18 amidst growing concern among human rights groups, a media report said on Sunday.
Ghulam Abbas, 36, a death row prisoner languishing in a jail for13 years, was sentenced to death in 2006 by a district and sessions court in Rawalpindi for stabbing one of his neighbours.
Abbas, who has clear symptoms of mental illness, was issued the death warrant by the session court in Rawalpindi, Dawn news reported.
Following the death warrant, there have been calls from human rights organisations to halt the execution considering the mental illness of the prisoner. A fresh mercy petition has been filed requesting the president to grant him a reprieve. (PTI)
