ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani rights group has appealed on Indonesia to free on humanitarian grounds a terminally ill Pakistani convict on death row.
The Justice Project Pakistan, which opposes capital punishment, said in a statement Thursday that 54-year-old Zulfiqar Ali could soon die after his health deteriorated while in a Jakarta prison hospital.
There was no immediate response from Indonesia.
Ali was arrested in November 2004 and later convicted on drug smuggling charges which carry the death sentence in Indonesia. The rights group claims his trial was unfair and that he was wrongfully convicted.
Sarah Belal, executive director at Justice Project Pakistan, said they cannot save Ali's life but are trying to help him "die a free man."
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain has asked Indonesia President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to pardon Ali.