The Borneo Post (Sabah)

‘Anyone can kill me’ — Lawyer battles Pakistan blasphemy laws

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ISLAMABAD: After saving condemned Christian Asia Bibi from the gallows in Pakistan, her lawyer says he is facing the wrath of Islamist extremists — and wonders who will save him.

But despite the threats against him, Saif-ul-Mulook says he regrets nothing, and will continue his legal fight against intoleranc­e.

Mulook’s latest victory saw the freeing of Asia Bibi — a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy, who spent nearly a decade on death row — after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction Wednesday.

“The verdict has shown that the poor, the minorities and the lowest segments of society can get justice in this country despite its shortcomin­gs,” he told AFP immediatel­y after the verdict.

“This is the biggest and happiest day of my life.”

Demonstrat­ions against the ruling erupted across the country hours later, with extremists calling for mutiny against the army’s top brass, and for the assassinat­ion of Supreme Court justices.

Blasphemy is a highly inflammato­ry charge in Muslimmajo­rity Pakistan, where even the slightest whiff of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can incite vigilante mobs.

Mulook said he feels he is now a sitting duck with no security or escape plan.

“I think I have absolutely no safety. No security and I am the easiest target ... anybody can kill me,” he said.

The defence of Bibi was just the latest in a long line of controvers­ial cases taken up by the barrister.

In 2011, Mulook was the lead prosecutor against Mumtaz Qadri over the assassinat­ion of Punjab governor Salman Taseer — a prominent critic of the country’s blasphemy laws and supporter of Bibi.

Qadri — one of Taseer’s bodyguards — gunned down his boss in broad daylight, citing the governor’s calls for reform of the blasphemy laws as his motive.

Mulook said he took on the case as others cowered, fearing reprisals from extremists.

His prosecutio­n resulted in the conviction and subsequent execution of Qadri, who was feted by Islamists and later honoured with a shrine on the outskirts of Islamabad. —

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Saif-ul-Mulook

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