Blasphemy case ruling a victory for activists

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s highest court yesterday upheld the death sentence for the killer of the governor of the country’s wealthiest and most populous province after he had called for reform of the blasphemy law.

Killings over blasphemy in Pakistan highlight a gulf between conservatives and more liberal elements in society. Since 1990, at least 65 people have been killed in cases linked to blasphemy.

Yesterday’s ruling was seen as a victory for human rights activists who say the blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty, is often used in poor rural areas to settle personal scores.

In 2011, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was shot dead by a bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, after he had sought a presidential pardon for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

Both the trial court and the high court of Islamabad, the capital, sentenced Qadri to death. He appealed to the supreme court against the decision.

“The criminal appeal filed by the convict is dismissed,” the supreme court said in its ruling.

“The appeal filed by the state is allowed. The conviction and sentence by the trial court are restored.”

Judges in Pakistan are reluctant to hear blasphemy cases, as the presentation of evidence in court can itself be considered a new infringement of the law.

But while hearing Qadri’s appeals, judges said criticising the blasphemy law did not amount to blasphemy – a small victory in a country where calls for the law’s reform have led to several assassinations and lynchings.

Two months after Taseer’s murder, Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was murdered by the Taliban for demanding changes to the blasphemy law.

Last year, gunmen posing as clients shot dead a human rights lawyer defending a professor accused of blasphemy. – Reuters