Mentally ill prisoner died at Pakistan hospital

Islamabad, Mar 22 (AP) A Pakistani rights group says a mentally ill prisoner who spent the last 16 years of his life on death row has died at a hospital in the eastern city of Lahore. A Friday statement by Justice Project Pakistan, which campaigns against the death penalty, says Khizar Hayat, 56, passed away Thursday night.

It said Hayat had been hospitalized in critical condition for being "severely anemic and hypotensive". Pakistan's Supreme Court had suspended Hayat's execution early this year following a civil society campaign. The former policeman was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing a fellow officer.

The court also ordered a new hearing in his case, but Hayat passed away before any progress could be made. Hayat is survived by four children and his mother.(AP)

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