Sharif asks Prez to reject appeals of Peshawar school convict

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday advised the President to reject the mercy pleas of four death-row terrorists involved in the Peshawar school attack, saying the will of entire nation is that perpetrators of such heinous crimes deserve “no mercy”.

About 150 people, mostly students, were killed in the country’s worst terror assault when heavily-armed militants attacked the army run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in mid-December.

A military court in August sentenced seven militants to death for their involvement in the attack. The militants were arrested for facilitating the massacre.

The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement said that four convicted men filed mercy appeals to the President which is the last forum against death sentence. Under the law, the President decides the appeals on the recommendation of the prime minister.

The Prime Minister has “advised the President to reject the mercy petitions of all four convicted terrorists of Army Public School Peshawar terrorist attack,” said the statement.

“The brutal and merciless killings of our children convinced us that the perpetrators of such crimes do not deserve any mercy,” it said.