Public hanging is against Constitution and Sharia, says Farogh Naseem

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Farogh Naseem on Saturday opposed the public hanging of offenders convicted for sexual abuse of children as “contravention to Islamic teachings and the Constitution.”, ARY News reported.

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The National Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for public hanging of the child abuse convicts with a majority vote amid opposition from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and two government ministers.

Farogh Naseem in a media talk said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had declared public hanging of a culprit as unlawful in its ruling in year 1994.

“The apex court has declared the public hanging of a convict a violation of the Sharia and the Constitution,” Naseem said.

“The Ministry of Law will not hammer out a law against the constitution and the teachings of Islamic Sharia,” the minister said in his comments.

Apart of the PPP members, federal minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and Human Rights Minister Dr. Shirin Mazari opposed the resolution seeking public hanging of the child abusers.

The resolution was tabled in the lower house of the Parliament by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants hanging punishment for the child abuse convicts.

“When we raised the issue of public hanging in the National Assembly’s standing committee on Human Rights headed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, it was opposed,” the parliamentary minister said adding that the government desires a new law aimed at the hanging of the convicts.

He further asked the opposition if it is ready to support the bill or not.

Another PTI lawmaker Imran Khattak also seconded the resolution calling for public hanging of child rape convicts.

Former Prime Minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Parliamentarian Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, however, opposed the move saying that the country has signed a United Nations (UN) Charter against public hangings and if it is adopted then the world would not accept it.