( dpa ) - An Indian man languishing in a Pakistani prison for 35 years after being sentenced to death for espionage will be released Monday after being pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said.
Kashmir Singh, who was arrested in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi in 1973 and later sentenced to death, spent more than three decades in limbo in various prisons as his case slipped through the cracks of the country's legal system.
Ansar Burni, Pakistan's caretaker minister for human rights and a prominent activist, learned of Singh's fate during a visit to the eastern city of Lahore, where he was being held, and appealed to Musharraf to pardon him.
"Kashmir Singh will be released between 4 pm and 5 pm today from the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore and he will be handed over to the custody of the Ansar Burni Trust," Burni said, referring to his self-named human rights group. "Tomorrow, he will be released at the Indian border."
Hundreds of Pakistani and Indian citizens have been languishing for years in jails in each country, including fisherman detained on simple offenses such as trespassing. The nuclear-armed neighbors have had tense relations since their partition and independence from Britain in 1947 and have fought three wars.
Singh was on a business trip to Rawalpindi when he was arrested and put on trial. He appealed his death sentence in 1977 but it was rejected two years later.
"Since then, he has been languishing in prison," Burni said. "Last month, when I was visiting the prison in Lahore, I came to know that an Indian prisoner was there for the last 35 years and and during all these years, he did not have a single visitor.
"Upon my request, President Musharraf ordered his release, for which all arrangements are now complete," he said.
Burni said he will escort Singh to the Wagha border crossing between Pakistan and India on Tuesday morning, where he was expected to be reunited with his wife and children.
"I will be traveling with him. I want to capture the moment when he sees his beloved wife," Burni said.