Pakistan court upholds death penalty for blasphemy killer

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan 

The death penalty for a man who killed a Pakistani governor for "blasphemy" was upheld by a Pakistani court on Monday. 

The Islamabad High Court rejected the appeal of Mumtaz Qadri, a former police officer in an elite unit, with the judge, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, stating that it was up to the court, not individuals, to rule on whether remarks are blasphemous. 

Qadri was one of the guards for the governor of the Punjab province, Salmaan Taseer, who he killed in 2011 for his criticism of the country's blasphemy law. 

There had been speculation that the court might reduce the death penalty to life imprisonment amid mounting pressure from parties that identify as religious and reported threats to the lawyers appearing in the blasphemy-related cases.

According to the defense lawyer Justice Khawa Sharif, a former chief justice of the Lahore High Court, the ruling will be challenged in the Supreme Court.

Rights group observe that the blasphemy law is often exploited to settle personal scores against religious minorities and say it should be annulled.

Supporters of the law claim the law, which is intended to cover all religions, prevents vigilantism after allegations of blasphemy. 

There are nearly 600 blasphemy cases waiting in the courts, with two-thirds of them involving Muslims.