DHAKA: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered that executions be temporarily suspended during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan began on Friday in Pakistan, and will continue for between 29 and 30 days, depending on the sighting of the moon, reports the Aljazeera.

The suspension will be implemented in order “to observe the sanctity of the holy month”, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office on Thursday night.

Pakistan lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in December, after a Taliban attack on a Peshawar school left more than 150 people dead, most of them children.

Executions were initially resumed only in terrorism cases, but in March the government widened the scope of the initial order to include all executions.

Pakistan has executed more than 150 people in total since the moratorium was lifted, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Lawyers and rights activists say it is unfair to carry out executions given fair-trial concerns in many cases.

BDST: 1616 HRS, JUNE 19, 2015
BD/