Sarabjit gets ‘fresh evidence’ boost

There seems to be a renewed hope for Sarabjit Singh facing death row in Pakistan. His new lawyer Awaiz Sheikh said on Monday that there was new evidence to prove that Sarabjit was a political victim and a case of mistaken identity.

He said he had filed a fresh mercy petition and also written to the chief justice of Pakistan asking for reopening of the case.

Accompanied by Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit’s sister, the Pakistan lawyer made an appeal to prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take up his case afresh with the Pakistan government on the basis of the new evidence. He
presented Sarabjit’s appeal to Punjab PCC president Amarinder Singh.

Dalbir Kaur said Awaiz had replaced Rana Abdul Hamid as Sarabjit’s lawyer in Pakistan a few months ago. She regretted that Rana did not take the case seriously due to which it was decided ex-parte by the Pakistan courts.

Awaiz said he had collected pieces of evidence to prove that Manjit Singh, in whose name Sarabjit had been sentenced to death, was a different person, and had moved to Canada where the latter was arrested. “Even in Pakistan we have Manjit’s pictures where he is shown with a Pakistani woman,” he said.

Awaiz said a UK-based lawyer Jasbir Uppal had been assisting in the case for quite some time.