PM advises President to reject mercy petitions of APS convicts

Lahore: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday advised President Mamnoon Hussain to reject the mercy petitions of all four convicted terrorists of Army Public School Peshawar attack, saying that killers of our children and perpetrators of such brutal crimes do not deserve any mercy.

The Prime Minister has sent the written advice to the President as per his constitutional obligation under article 105 of the Constitution.

Prime Minister Sharif said the death sentence awarded to the four terrorists, in fact, was the will of the entire nation. “By recommending the rejection of mercy petition of these  terrorists I am also but reflecting the will of the people and  honouring the promise made to the families of my children who  lost their lives in the Army Public School tragedy,” he said.

The Prime Minister mentioned that immediately after the APS tragedy, the State institutions, the elected representatives in the Parliament and all political parties unanimously decided to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice even if amendments were required in the law. “The establishment of Military Courts through these amendments had enabled us to bring the perpetrators of most heinous crimes to justice in a short span of time,” he said.

Four persons were sentenced to death by the Military Courts on the charge of terrorist attack on Army Public School Peshawar in December 2014.