Plea against 'black warrants' dismissed in Pakistan

Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan on Friday dismissed a petition against the "black warrants" of two convicts who had been sentenced to death.

The two convicts, Faisal and Afzal, were awarded the death sentence on July 7, 1999, and were to be executed on March 5, 2015, according to a Geo News report.

The convicts, along with their accomplice, Kashif Khan, had killed a man while committing a robbery in the Korangi neighbourhood of Karachi in 1998.

On February 23, an ATC had issued the "black warrant" for Faisal and Afzal.

Then, on March 2, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had suspended the warrants for five days.

The third accused, Khan, had died during the trial.

Pakistan had lifted a six-year-old moratorium on the death penalty for convicted terrorists in December last year following the Peshawar school attack in which over 140 school children and staff were killed.