Pakistan’s top court stays hanging of mentally ill prisoner
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of a mentally ill prisoner whose hanging was to take place later this week, a lawyer said.
The case of 50-year-old Imdad Ali, convicted of murdering a religious scholar in 2001, has drawn criticism from rights groups. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008.
The Supreme Court rejected his appeal last week, arguing his disease does not qualify as a mental disorder but his wife, Safia Bano, later filed a petition to spare his life.
Her lawyer, Iqbal Gilani, said a three-judge panel stayed Ali’s hanging for two weeks to give time to hear the petition. He said the petition will be heard in the second week of November.