–Family says verdict has less to do with ‘legal merits and more with the sociopolitical environment in which lower judiciary operates’
–HRCP ‘dismayed’ by verdict, says blasphemy laws are heavily misused
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday sentenced a liberal scholar and former university lecturer, Junaid Hafeez, to death on blasphemy charges.
In 2013, Junaid Hafeez was accused by students at the university where he taught of making blasphemous Facebook posts. His lawyers say he was framed by students from an extremist Islamist party for his liberal and secular views and this month a US religious freedom commission placed Hafeez on its list of global victims.
“He (Junaid Hafeez) shall be hanged by neck till his death subject to its confirmation by the honourable high court,” a court order stated.
According to the court’s short judgement, “All the sentences shall run consecutively and the accused would not be entitled to the benefit of Section 382-B CrPC because in case of blasphemer, this court has got no circumstance for taking [a] lenient view and it is also not permitted in Islam.”
Under Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code, the period of detention of a prisoner has to be considered in the prison term when a person is convicted by a trial court.
His defense lawyer Asad Jamal said he would appeal against the ruling in a higher court. “There can’t be a fair trial in blasphemy cases in Pakistan,” Jamal told Reuters. “We have a spineless system. No one can stand up to a blasphemy charge.”
Hafeez, who quit his studies at Pakistan’s top medical college to pursue a passion for art and literature, secured a Fulbright scholarship and attended Jackson State University where he majored in American literature, photography and theatre.
The trial was held in a prison in the central Pakistan city of Multan under tight security due to threats to Hafeez’s family and his lawyer.
Reacting to the verdict, Hafeez’s family expressed disappointment and said it was”an unfortunate verdict which has less to do with the legal merits of the case and more with the sociopolitical environment in which the lower judiciary operates and for which no one seems to care”.
“The prospect of Hafeez getting even a semblance of fair trial came into question when his counsel Rashid Rehman was brutally murdered inside his chambers. Those involved in the murder were never apprehended. Rehman’s murder resulted in a wave of fear, putting off other lawyers from taking up his defence. The failure to apprehend those who shot Rehman dead signalled impunity for other would-be vigilantes,” the statement said.
“Could any judge in such circumstances take the risk of doing justice? Those who could were transferred from the district or brought under pressure by groups of lawyers operating as mafias.”
The statement said Hafeez has already spent over six years in solitary confinement prior to conviction “which amounts in itself to cruel and inhuman punishment”.
“We feel the case was wholly unnecessarily prolonged defying all legal norms. Seven judges were transferred in six years of the trial,” it added.
The statement said an appeal against the verdict will soon be filed in the high court, and that it was hoped that “justice will be served without delay”.
In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was dismayed by the verdict.
“HRCP believes that blasphemy laws are heavily misused,” it said, adding that this “is compounded by a trial process ridden by delays and pressures at the level of the lower judiciary”.
“The offence itself is already associated with vigilantism and entrenched impunity – underscored by the 2014 murder of Mr Hafeez’s lawyer, Rashid Rehman. The resulting pressure on lower courts becomes apparent when most such verdicts are overturned by the High Court or Supreme Court,” the statement.
“In five years, at least eight judges have heard Mr Hafeez’s case, making a fair trial virtually impossible. Meanwhile, he has undergone six years’ imprisonment in solitary confinement. Aasia Bibi, who was charged similarly, was acquitted after eight years’ incarceration. There are grave implications here for access to justice in such cases.”
