PAKISTAN/INDIA: Prisoner convicted of spying for India is in critical condition after he was attacked in jail, his lawyer says

Record ID: 353844

  • Title: PAKISTAN/INDIA: Prisoner convicted of spying for India is in critical condition after he was attacked in jail, his lawyer says
  • Date: 27th April 2013
  • Summary: LAHORE, PAKISTAN (APRIL 26, 2013) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** NIGHTSHOTS: CARS MOVING OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL AMBULANCE AND NEWS VANS OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL GATE LOCALS WALKING AMBULANCES PARKED AT THE HOSPITAL ENTRANCE SIGN READING: "ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY: POLICE OFFICIALS WALKING IN THE HOSPITAL LOBBY LOCALS WATCHING POLICE OFFICIALS POLICE OFFICIALS STANDING G
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, India
  • City:
  • Country: Pakistan India
  • Topics: Crime,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA423W055OKECM65W4HPSGHSLA2
  • Story Text: A prisoner convicted of spying for India was attacked and seriously injured by fellow inmates in a Pakistani jail on Friday (April 26) in an incident that could inflame the uneasy relations between the two nations.
    Sarabjit Singh was hospitalised with a serious head injury, a doctor said, after two fellow prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore.
    His lawyer confirmed Singh's condition was critical.

    "A jail inmate has attacked Sarabjit Singh and prison authorities have brought him here in serious condition. His health is critical and this incident is very disturbing. As this case is connected to the relations between India and Pakistan, I would pray that god saves Sarabjit Singh," Owais Sheikh said.
    Sheikh added that when he last met Singh, he had spoken of threats from inmates following the execution of Kashmiri militant Afzal Guru, responsible for attacking the Indian parliament.
    Singh was arrested in Pakistan in 1991 and sentenced to death for spying and carrying out four bomb blasts that killed 14 people. His family says he is innocent.
    Four years ago, Pakistan's then-president Pervez Musharraf stayed the execution after appeals for clemency from India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
    Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the partition of British-ruled India in 1947, but they began a peace process in 2004.
    Despite better relations, the neighbours remain deeply suspicious of each other.
    India blamed Pakistani militants for carrying the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people over three days and raised questions over the involvement of Pakistani security services.
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