Lecturer sentenced to death for blasphemy in Multan

LAHORE: A Sessions Court in Multan on Saturday sentenced a former university lecturer to death for blasphemy.

Junaid Hafeez, 33, was arrested in March 2013 for posting sacrilegious remarks on social media. Hafeez’s sentence was announced in Multan, where he was a university lecturer at the time of his arrest, and his counsel Asad Jamal slammed the decision as “most unfortunate”. “We will appeal against this verdict,” Jamal told a foreign news agency.

There was tight security in and outside Multan prison where the trial was held. Government lawyer Azim Chaudhry hailed the decision while fellow lawyer Airaz Ali said it was a “victory of truth fulness and righteousness.” Rights group Amnesty International said the verdict was “a gross miscarriage of justice”. “Junaid Hafeez’s death sentence is a gross miscarriage of justice and the verdict... is extremely disappointing and surprising,” Amnesty’s Rabia Mehmood said. “The government must immediately release him and drop all charges against him,” she added. “The authorities must also guarantee his safety and that of his family and legal representatives.” Hafeez’s lawyer was killed in 2014 after receiving death threats during a hearing.

About 40 people convicted of blasphemy are on death row in Pakistan, according to a 2018 estimate by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. While many cases involve Muslims accusing Muslims, rights activists have warned that religious minorities are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores.