The family of Mirza-Tahir Hussain, the Briton on death row in Pakistan whose capital sentence has been commuted, today expressed their gratitude to the Prince of Wales and President Pervez Musharraf for the unprecedented legal move.
Amjad Hussain, Mr Hussain's brother who led the campaign to overturn the death sentence, said that he received a phone call from the Pakistani High Commission this morning confirming the clemency had been granted. He was unable to give any details of when his brother would be returning home.
After 18 years on death row, General Musharraf commuted Mr Hussain’s death sentence to life yesterday, a final reprieve after years of international campaigning to seek his freedom.
"The family of Mirza Tahir Hussain are overjoyed that at last the shadow of death has been lifted from over our brother, son and uncle," Amjad Hussain said speaking at his home in Brudenell Grove, Hyde Park, Leeds.
"I welcome the news and I’m grateful to President Musharraf that he has taken this decision on humanitarian grounds.
"I am also grateful to all the people that have made representations and campaigned on my brother’s behalf, including the Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, parliamentarians, European leaders and the coalition of NGOs who have all campaigned tirelessly for this day.
Mr Hussain, who gave up his job to campaign for his brother’s release, said it was a day of thanksgiving for all the family as his brother had suffered "beyond belief" through a "serious miscarriage of justice". His brother had been told of the decision by family who visited him this morning adding that when he came home, he would be living with them in Leeds.
"At last, this 18 years of nightmare appears to be coming to an end. We now await the news that finally Tahir will be allowed to come back to us and start to rebuild his life."
Clarence House said today that Prince Charles was "very pleased" with the President's decision. The Prince’s direct appeal to General Musharraf during his visit to Pakistan last month is said to have been the final tipping point in the long-running case.
Mr Hussain, a 36-year-old Muslim who was convicted by an Islamic court of murdering a taxi driver, should be eligible for release because he is deemed to have served his punishment.
"The next step we will be pushing for is an immediate release," Sajjad Karim, the chairman of the European Parliament’s Friends of Pakistan Group who led a delegation of MEPs to lobby President Musharraf earlier this year, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.
"Hopefully, Mirza will be returning back home to Leeds very, very soon."
According to a Pakistani senator who has taken an interest in the case, a life sentence in the country generally results in around 14 years in jail, with time off for good behaviour, Mr Karim added.
While it is unclear from official channels whether any release is imminent, Khalid Ranjha, Mr Hussain’s lawyer said: "He should be freed now, he has served his life sentence already."
The decision to show mercy comes shortly after Prince Charles took the rare step of appealing to General Musharraf for Hussain’s life when he visited the country last month.
The request was reported to have come in an informal moment as the two men walked to the Prince’s car after their official meeting in Islam-abad on October 30.
The hanging was to have taken place during the Prince's five day royal trip in October, but was delayed until December 31 after Prince Charles wrote to the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, about the case.
Tony Blair's official spokesman said today that the Prime Minister had also discussed the matter with General Musharraf at Chequers during a recent visit to Britain.
"But this was very much a decision for President Musharraf and we welcome the role he has played in this case."
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett expressed "relief and gratitude" but declined to speculate on factors behind the timing of the decision.
"Let’s be pleased that it’s happened and the president has made a decision."
"I think it’s simply that people have been working on this for a long time and that work has finally been brought to fruition."
Only a few weeks ago The Times circumvented prison guards to meet Hussain at his cell in Rawalpindi by joining inmates’ relatives and posing as a family friend. The prisoner, whose family had moved from Pakistan to Leeds when he was a boy, passed over a handwritten note requesting the Prime Minister to ask President Musharraf to spare his life.
In a leading article, the newspaper spoke of a "very strong case for clemency: on questions of both evidence and process there is too much room for uncertainty".
Mr Hussain, who once served in the Territorial Army, endured a bewildering legal ordeal resulting in convictions for murdering a taxi driver and highway robbery.
The "exceptional" appeal was made on humanitarian grounds considering the severity of the sentence and the time already spent in prison.
Tony Blair had written to the Pakistani Government seeking clemency and told the Commons that there would be "very serious" consequences if the execution went ahead. General Musharraf had deferred the execution three times. The last postponement in October came on the eve of the Prince’s visit.
The clemency is unprecedented as under Islamic laws the President does not have the power to overrule the court judgment. Hussain had endured seven trials since his arrest for murdering Jamshed Khan in 1988.
According to Hussain, the taxi driver took out a gun and tried to rob him. In his statement Hussain said that the weapon went off as they struggled. He was charged with murder and in 1989 found guilty and sentenced to death.
Mr Khan’s family had refused an offer of £18,000 from Hussain’s family to revoke the death penalty, and vowed to avenge the dead man.
The campaign to save Hussain brought together a broad coalition from Amnesty International to the Muslim Council of Britain and the Roman Catholic Church.
Catherine Wolthuizen, chief executive of Fair Trials Abroad, said that her organisation was delighted with the decision.
"He’s already served the equivalent of at least one or two life sentences and I very much hope this could see him returned home very soon," she said.
"He was the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice which has been recognised by the Pakistan government."
Edward McMillan-Scott, an MEP who has campaigned for Hussain’s release, said that he had spoken to President Musharraf in Brussels last month and the Pakistani leader had made a number of "private assurances" to him then.
Mr McMillan-Scott, who represents Yorkshire and the Humber, said that he planned to travel to Pakistan on December 15 to try to ensure Hussain was home for Christmas.
"I am delighted with the news. It reflects promises made by Musharraf to myself during his visit to Brussels last month.
"I have been working with the family to secure Hussain’s release and was planning a last minute plea next month which will now become a plea for his return to Leeds for Christmas."
LONG WAIT FOR JUSTICE
December 1988 Mirza-Tahir Hussain, 18, flies from Leeds to Pakistan to visit relatives. He is arrested after death of taxi driver near Rawalpindi. Hussain claims that he shot driver in self-defence
September 1989 A sessions court in Islamabad sentences him to death
November 1992 The High Court orders a retrial
April 1994 A sessions court in Islamabad sentences him to life imprisonment
May 1996 The High Court acquits Hussain of murder, but a month later refers the case to the Federal Sharia Court
May 1998 The Sharia court sentences him to death by two votes to one
December 2003 The Supreme Sharia Court of Pakistan rejects the appeal
May 2006 President Musharraf issues the first of three stays of execution. The last expired on October 1
October 26 Ramadan and Eid end, meaning Hussain can be hanged barring another stay of execution
November 15 Reprieved
