[ad_1]
For him it is already a tradition and it satisfies it with care, all the inheritance. Great-grandson, grandson and son of executioners, Sabir Masih has already executed about 300 inmates, a job he considers "routine" and does not cause remorse, At a time when Pakistan has become one of the leading countries in the application of the death penalty worldwide.
"It's a routine for me and I do not regret hanging so many people. I only follow orders"says the 34-year-old man, ebony, with marked features and a pronounced stutter.
His first execution took place in July 2006, the case of a convict convicted of murder during a bank robbery, at only 22, because his father was engaged in hanging a prisoner in another city.
The prisoner recited verses from the Koran. The superintendent gave me a signal, I pulled the lever and the convict was hanged. I was not afraid because I had already seen an execution
"The prisoner recited verses from the Koran, the superintendent gave me a signal, I pulled the lever and the prisoner was hanged, I was not afraid because I had already seen an execution," recalls Masih.
In eight months he has passed 100 executions and has continued to add until in 2008 the government imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.
During the two long years of moratorium, Masih continued to collect his salary as a clerk in the Punjab province's public prison, without executing anyone. Until December 16, 2014, a group of Taliban killed 125 students in an attack on a school in the city of Peshawar (northwest),
He remained silent. The superintendent told him that if he wanted to apologize to Zainab's father, he remained silent
Just three days after the attack, Masih hanged the first two prisoners after years and has since executed about 100. Pakistan has executed 506 people since the end of the moratorium, which has made it one of the main countries that apply the death penalty in the world, only behind Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.
The last execution of Masih was that of Imran Ali, condemned for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, in a controversial case that triggered violent protests to demand security and a swift action against the rapist, who hanged in October.
Sabir Masih is a hangman by inheritance.
"He remained silent. The superintendent told him that if he wanted to apologize to Zainab's father, he remained silent", explains the executioner.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International (AI) believe that Pakistan "violates international laws and regulations" in its application of pending sentences, while local organizations criticize Pakistani police and the judicial system for being ineffective, becomes unjust sentences .
None of this concerns Masih, who maintains that the death penalty helps to reduce crimes, despite the evidence against them, and highlights the tradition of his family.
I like this profession because it is the profession of my family. I'm happy with what I do and I do not feel any discomfort
"I like this profession because it's my family's profession, I'm happy with what I do and I do not feel any discomfort," he says proudly.
His family has been doing this job for six generations, his father's grandfather was already engaged in it, from the moment when Pakistan was part of British India.
The great uncle Tara Masih was in charge of executing former Prime Minister Zulficar Ali Bhutto in 1977 after being deposed in a coup and sentenced by a court.
The ineffectiveness of the Pakistani justice system was evident in 2016 when the Supreme Court acquitted the brothers Ghulam Qadir and Ghulam Sarwar for murder, to find out that they had been executed months before. Masi had been charged with hanging them. "If an innocent man is hanged it's not my fault, it's the fault of the judge who ordered the execution", ensures sparingly.
The moment when Masih gets excited is when he explains gesturing how the practice is performed, how he puts the rope on the prisoner's neck, covers his head, binds his hands back and feet, as he explains to the prisoner who does not pull out the tongue as it can be cut during hanging. And as the hanged hangs for half an hour, to make sure they are dead, as some die within minutes, while others can take much longer and choke slowly.
Masih remembers seeing every kind of behavior on the gallows, from prisoners who cry, some who pray, to others who are silent. Even some who seem proud of dying like that.
"The people of terrorist groups and extremists sing as "Allah-u-Akbar" (god is great) and say they have won, which is a triumph for them, not a defeat", the sentences of the executioner.
EFE
[ad_2]
Source link
