absence of the magistrate, and the police had informed the witnesses that he was the bomber. This was confirmed by Salim's testimony. An Indian origin British lawyer, Jas Uppal, campaigning for his release, pointed to several problems with the prosecution in the trial. These problems included: His identity was never verified or proved in court and no forensic evidence was provided at his trial to link him to the bomb attacks. The trial was conducted in English, which Singh does not speak or understand, and no interpreter was provided. There were allegations that he was tortured in custody and forced to confess. The trial was "fast-tracked". The main witness repeatedly changed his version of events. After conviction On 26 April 2008, the key witness Shaukat Salim retracted his statement during an interview with journalists. Salim's father and other relatives had been killed in the bombing. In court Salim testified that Singh had planted the bomb but later said that he made that statement under pressure from the police. Singh's lawyer, Abdul Rana Hamid, said that Salim's statements had no legal standing as they were never recorded in court. Five of his mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and the President of Pakistan, but in 2008 the government nonetheless put off Singh's execution indefinitely. Presidential pardon On 27 June 2012, both Pakistani and international media reported President Asif Ali Zardari signed a document sent by the interior ministry of Pakistan commuting Singh's death sentence to life in prison. A life sentence in Pakistan generally lasts 14 years. Singh, having spent 22 years in jail, was therefore to be released. The news of his pardon and imminent release initiated celebrations in his hometown. The Indian foreign minister also issued a statement of appreciation to Islamabad for the gesture. This drew a storm of condemnation from Islamic groups Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ud-Da'wah. Later that day, after media agencies in both Pakistan and India had reported on a commuted sentence and pending release for Singh, the Pakistani government announced that the name of the prisoner to be released would be Surjeet Singh, not Sarabjit Singh. Surjeet Singh was arrested on charges of spying by the Pakistani security officials. Indian government, however, denied that Surjeet Singh was a spy. Regarding the confusion related to Sarabjit-Surjeet mix-up, Surjeet Singh said that similar Urdu spellings of both the names led to the confusion. Surjeet also said that