Mumtaz Qadri appeals against death sentence

Pakistan

Mumtaz Qadri appeals against death sentence

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Mumtaz Qadri has appealed against his conviction for murder of ex-Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

06 October,2011 11:55 pm

The Pakistani anti-terror court on Saturday found Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, one of Punjab governor Salman Taseers bodyguards, guilty of murder and sentenced him to death.Qadri confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to his residence in the leafy capital Islamabad on January 4. He said he objected to the politicians calls to amend the blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty for those convicted of blasphemy.Today we have filed an appeal in Islamabad high court against the verdict and have challenged Qadris death sentence, Shuja-ur-Rehman, one of Qadris lawyers, said.The anti-terrorism court was not the competent authority to sentence him, this decision is illegal and baseless.Rehman said a preliminary hearing for his appeal had been fixed for Tuesday.The killing of Taseer was the most high-profile political assassination in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto died in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007.