Lawyer: Pakistan Governor’s Killer Appeals Death Sentence
ICC Note
A radical Muslim who killed a governor in Pakistan appeals death sentence.The Islamist killed the governor for speaking on behalf of Asia Bibi,a Christian who is sentenced to death for blasphemy and for his outspoken criticism of Pakistan’s blasphemy law.
By Shaan Khan
10/07/2011 Pakistan (CNN) — A security guard who killed a liberal politician in Pakistan over his remarks on the nation’s controversial blasphemy law has appealed his conviction and death sentence, his defense lawyer told CNN Friday.
Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was given the sentence this month by a terror court in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
Police say Qadri, a policeman serving as a security guard for Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, shot him dead in a market in Islamabad on January 4 because of Taseer’s remarks on Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law.
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Qadri’s lawyer, Raja Shuja Ur Rehman, has appealed the sentence imposed by the Anti-Terrorist Court. The lawyer said he is arguing that the terror court did not have the jurisdiction to make the death penalty decision.
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He said Qadri was “provoked” by Taseer, and that is what led to the death of the governor.
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Immediately after the sentencing, Rehman had told CNN that his client did not want him to appeal. because “I can’t wait to see (the Prophet) Mohammed in heaven,” Qadri said, according to Rehman.
Taseer, a successful businessman as well as politician, had said Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law is too harsh. The law makes it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed. The legislation has been criticized by some as being used to entrap minorities.
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