x
Home
Search
Topics
Almanac
Science
Nature
People
History
Society
Signup
Login
HOME
TOPICS
ALMANAC
SCIENCE
NATURE
PEOPLE
HISTORY
SOCIETY
PHILOSOPHY
Mirza Tahir Hussain
Topic Home
Discussion
0
Definition
Encyclopedia
Mirza Tahir Hussain is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 man released on 17 November 2006 after spending 18 years on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...

 in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 for the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 of a taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

 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
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

. His representative is Greg Mulholland
Greg Mulholland
Gregory Thomas Mulholland is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom, and is the Member of Parliament for Leeds North West. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 general election. Before...

, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Leeds North West
Leeds North West (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds North West is a parliamentary constituency in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

.

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
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

. 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
Qisas
Qisas is an Islamic term meaning "retaliation," and follows the principle of an eye for an eye, or lex talionis, first set forth by Hammurabi, and subsequently included in the Old Testament and later legal codes...

 with the relatives of the victim - a practice under Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

. The execution was again delayed, and set for 1 October 2006 at 0500 BST
BST
-Time zones:* Bangladesh Standard Time, the time zone of Bangladesh, is observed throughout the whole country, with a time offset of UTC+6:00* British Summer Time, the daylight saving time zone for Britain, which was known as British Standard Time between 1968 and 1971* Burma Standard Time, the...

. However, the execution was again delayed, reportedly because it is the holy month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

.

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
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...

, the President of Pakistan
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...

 resulted in commutation to a life sentence. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6153198.stm 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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/6157012.stm The mother of his victim had previously threatened to set herself on fire if he did not hang.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/28/upakistan.xml

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
    Pervez Musharraf
    Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...

  • "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
    Member of the European Parliament
    A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

     for Yorkshire
    Yorkshire
    Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

     and Humber
    Humber
    The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...

  • "travesty of justice" - Greg Mulholland
    Greg Mulholland
    Gregory Thomas Mulholland is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom, and is the Member of Parliament for Leeds North West. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 general election. Before...

    , Leeds MP
    Member of Parliament
    A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...


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
    Amnesty International
    Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

  • "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

BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 News


See also

  • Capital punishment in Pakistan
    Capital punishment in Pakistan
    Capital punishment is legal in Pakistan. At least 241 people were sentenced to death in Pakistan in 2005, and at least 31 were executed - the fifth highest number in the world...

  • Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
    Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan , or HRCP, is an independent, non-profit organization, founded in 1987, which is not associated or affiliated with the government or any political party. It is committed to act with impartiality and objectivity in all matters...

  • Human rights in Pakistan
    Human rights in Pakistan
    Pakistan’s human rights record has dramatically improved since the reforms that took place after the tenure of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. The situation of human rights in Pakistan is a complex one, as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a...

  • Sharia
    Sharia
    Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
Silverdale Interactive © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
 
x
OK