ISLAMABAD: An international rights group and a lawyer say a top Pakistani court has refused to halt the execution of Pakistan’s first known paraplegic death-row convict, a decision handed down one day before he’s scheduled to be hanged.

The Reprieve group and lawyer Sara Belal say Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea to grant a stay on execution for Abdul Basit, 43, who is paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair. He has been on death row since 2009 after being convicted of murdering a man in a financial dispute in Punjab province.

Basit’s family members told The Associated Press they met him for the final time on Monday and said their last hope was a pardon from President Mamnoon Hussain.