In an official statement Pakistan confirmed that their army chief has signed the death sentence for 30 militants on Wednesday, April 19. Some of the convicted were held after the 2014 Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, 144 of which were schoolchildren.
Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the army chief, had to sign the death sentence since according to Pakistani law in cases of capital punishment handed down by military courts, in trials conducted behind closed doors, the army chief is required to confirm the sentences.
After the Peshawar attack the government has lifted the ban on the death penalty and the militants arrested for the assault were tried in military courts set by the authorities.
Opposition parties and rights groups have criticized Pakistan for their decision of holding the trials by military courts.
