Pakistani court upholds execution order, saying schizophrenia is not a mental illness

SCHIZOPHRENIA is not a mental disorder, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled, closing the door on a last-ditch appeal of a man facing execution.

Safia Bano with a picture of her husband Imdad Ali while she protests with other family members in Burewala, in central Pakistan.

SCHIZOPHRENIA is not a mental disorder, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled, closing the door on a last-ditch appeal to stay the execution of a man who killed a religious scholar.

The Independent reports the court issued a statement saying the execution could go ahead, arguing that schizophrenia was not a permanent affliction and its effects varied depending upon “levels of stress”.

This made it a recoverable disease, the court stated, which does not meet the criteria of a mental disorder.

Imdad Ali has been sentenced to death for murder.

In 2013, he was declared clinically insane after an earlier diagnosis found he had paranoid schizophrenia which had impaired his ‘rational thinking’.

EXPLORE MORE: Court dismisses execution appeal by man declared ‘insane’

He lost an appeal to his conviction on the basis of his mental health last year, and again in September.

The latest ruling was in response to a last-ditch effort by his wife for a stay of execution.

Under Pakistani law, Imdad could now face the gallows as early as Wednesday.

Maya Foa, a director of UK-based legal charity Reprieve, told the Independent: “It is outrageous for Pakistan’s Supreme Court to claim that schizophrenia is not a mental illness, and flies in the face of accepted medical knowledge, including Pakistan’s own mental health laws.”