ICC Note:

Violence has been threatened by extremist groups in Pakistan if Mumtaz Qadri, the confessed murderer of Salman Taseer, is executed by the state. In 2011, Qadri shot and killed Taseer, then the governor of Punjab, because of the governors opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and his support of Asia Bibi, a Christian sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy. After being sentenced to death, Qadri and his legal team has appealed his case up to Pakistan’s Supreme Court where is appeal was rejected and his death sentence was confirmed. Now, Qadri’s only chance of escaping execution is a presidential pardon, which must be given in the near future. If Qadri is executed, will radicals take out their anger on Pakistan’s already vulnerable Christians? 

2/24/2016 Pakistan (Asia News) – Tensions are at their highest level in Pakistan, with the security forces ready to revise the capital’s security arrangements. In the coming days, President Mamnoon Hussain is expected to decide on whether to grant clemency to Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who was sentenced to death.

Experts fear that if the death sentence is confirmed radical Muslims will engage in violence. In fact, some members of the president’s family, including one of his three children who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, fled their homes for the relative safety of the presidential palace for fear of possible retaliation.

President Hussain will make his decision after a long legal process marked by threats. Only a few days ago, Professor Ibrahim, a former provincial ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamist) party, threatened retaliation against the government if Qadri was not immediately released. The Islamist leader warned the president and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to protect themselves from the wrath of the people.

On 4 January 2011, Qadri, one of Taseer’s body guards, killed the governor as he left a restaurant in Islamabad, over his positions against the blasphemy law, which imposes life imprisonment or the death sentence for those who desecrate the Qur’an or the name of the prophet Muhammad.

Qadri has always claimed responsibility for the murder saying he wanted to punish the governor, who had also spoken in favor of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman charged with insulting the Prophet. For this reason, Islamists have hailed him as a national hero.

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