LEEDS COMMUNITY CALLS ON PAKISTANI PRESIDENT TO SPARE LOCAL MAN

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 24th Jul 2006

An urgent demonstration will be held outside the Pakistani Embassy in London tomorrow where a letter of petition from the people of Leeds will be presented to the Pakistani Authorities, calling upon Pakistani President, General Musharraf, to intervene to prevent Leeds man Mirza-Tahir Hussain from being executed next week.

The letter also urges the Pakistani Authorities to urgently re-examine Mirza-Tahir's case and his conviction, which many believe to be unsafe and unjust and as a result to fundamentally contravene standards of international law.

A cross party and cross faith message, the letter has been signed by member's of Mirza-Tahir's family and Leeds political leaders from all parties and across the political spectrum, including the family's MP, Greg Mulholland, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, John Battle MP, Council Leaders and the Muslim Lord Mayor of the City Cllr Mohammad Iqbal, alongside religious leaders, both from the Muslim community and the two Archbishops of Leeds.

It will be presented by Mirza-Tahir's brother Amjad Hussain, who has been leading the campaign for Mirza-Tahir's reprieve and for his conviction to be quashed, at the demonstration, organised by Amnesty International and Reprieve.

Commenting Greg said:

"There is a horribly real possibility that Mirza-Tahir could be executed in just a week's time unless urgent action is taken.

The people of Leeds have come together to send a clear and powerful message to the Pakistani Authorities and President Musharraf that there must be urgent action, both to permanently commute this barbaric death sentence, and to review Mirza-Tahir's woefully unjust and unsafe conviction without delay.

I am sure that President Musharraf would not want a man to be executed where the conviction is so obviously unsafe and we are asking him to intervene to overturn this judgement before a terrible miscarriage of justice takes place.

Mirza-Tahir has already had to spend half of his life in a Pakistani Prison, his conviction must immediately be re-examined and re-evaluated so that he can finally be brought back home where he belongs."