By IANS,
Shimla: The family of Indian national Sarabjit Singh, who is in a Pakistan jail facing death sentence, and an NGO Saturday launched a signature campaign here to convert his death penalty into a life term.
“We have launched a signature campaign in Shimla to seek people’s support for saving my father from the gallows,” Sarabjit’s daughter Swapandeep told reporters here.
“My father is innocent and he had crossed over to Pakistan in a drunken condition. After the signing of this mercy petition by several lakh people, it will be sent to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to convert his death penalty into a life term,” she said.
Arvind Thakur, president of Global Human Rights Council, said: “We have already sent petitions to the Pakistani president, the United Nations and to the chairperson of Amnesty International.”
Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected Sarabjit’s mercy petition June 24 after his lawyer failed to appear in court.
Sarabjit has been languishing in Pakistani jails for the past 18 years and has been convicted on charges of masterminding four bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990 that claimed 14 lives.