Convict set free after spending 21 years on death row.

KARACHI -- Muhammad Iqbal, who spent the last 21 years on death row for a crime he was convicted of committing when he was a juvenile, has been released, according to the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP).

The JPP is a non-profit, human rights law firm that provides pro-bono legal advice, representation and investigative services to the most vulnerable prisoners facing the harshest punishments.

Iqbal was only 17 years old in 1998 when he was arrested and consequently sentenced to death a year later, the advocacy group said in a statement issued on his release.

In 2000, Pakistan passed the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO), making it illegal for juveniles to be handed the death sentence.

A presidential notification of 2001 subsequently provided remission to all juveniles sentenced prior to the ordinance. However, Iqbal continued to languish on death row despite his proven juvenility, the JPP said.

A letter, it added, was written by the Punjab government to the Lahore High...

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