Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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He should be tried in military court.

Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

ISLAMABAD: With the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ready to take up the Salmaan Taseer murder case on Jan 27, it seems that the federal government’s law officers are reluctant to appear in court against the convict, Mumtaz Qadri.

An IHC division bench consisting of Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will hear the case from Tuesday, but so far, none of the prosecutors assigned to the case have agreed to appear in court.

Read| Footprints: Mumtaz Qadri mosque, memorials to our misdeeds

A senior law officer told Dawn that in addition to the sensitivity of the case, the law officers deputed in the IHC are not well-versed in criminal law, but rather have experience with general civil cases. This is also why many are trying to avoid becoming prosecutors in the Taseer murder case.

Law officers hesitant to go to court due to sensitivity of case, lack of criminal law expertise; say police refuse to provide them extra protection
A deputy attorney general (DAG) told Dawn on condition of anonymity that it was the responsibility of the additional attorney general (AAG) to appear in this case, because he was the senior-most law officer at the IHC.

“It is the AAG’s responsibility to appear in such high profile cases. DAGs and standing counsel have to deal with a number of other routine cases,” he added.

On the other hand, sources in the AAG office claimed that the federal government had appointed the advocate general of Islamabad to prosecute Qadri’s case.

When contacted, Islamabad Advocate General Mian Abdul Rauf said that he had not received any such instructions so far, adding that if the competent authority assigned him the case, he would appear in this matter.

Also read: Mumtaz Qadri, Prison King

Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon, the standing counsel who deals with cases assigned to Justice Qureshi’s court, told Dawn that Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tahir Alam Khan did not extend special protection to him when he was appearing against the alleged Mumbai attack mastermind, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

“Since police are reluctant to protect government lawyers, it will not be possible for them to appear in such high profile cases,” he said.

In the past, a special judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court who convicted Mumtaz Qadri in Oct 2011 had to flee the country due to threats to his life.

Despite repeated attempts, IGP Tahir Alam Khan was not available for comment.

Mumtaz Qadri was a bodyguard assigned to protect former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. Qadri gunned down Taseer outside a restaurant in Islamabad’s Kohsar Market on Jan 4, 2011.

Read: Blasphemy law claims another life

He was awarded the death sentence by a Rawalpindi ATC on Oct 1, 2011. But the execution of the sentence was stayed by an IHC division bench on Oct 11, 2011 when Qadri, through his counsel Khawaja Mohammad Sharif – a former chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) – had challenged the conviction.

Meanwhile, in November 2012, the IHC heard an application filed by Mr Sharif asking for a medical board to examine the health of the convict.

Also read: Qadri gets death sentence in Salman Taseer’s murder

At the last hearing of the Taseer murder case in October 2011, a large number of Qadri’s supporters gathered outside the IHC and began reciting verses from the Holy Quran and devotional naats.

The IHC administration had deployed a heavy security contingent to maintain law and order and even asked the Rawalpindi police to stop buses carrying Qadri’s supporters from entering Islamabad.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Government can hire any big lawyer . It will be more better .
Why they don't send this to military court

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

He accepted his crime in the court. what more do the courts want. hang him.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

He should either be tried in military court or identities of judges should not be revealed. We can criticise them all we want but who would willingly put their and their families life in serious danger just for doing their job?

It will be good for Army's image as well if they actually punish such idiots, there will be much less reaction against Army as compared to civilian government.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

He is appealing his murder conviction. If govt fails to defend the case they may let him out.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

He has right of appeal and having big support inside and out side jail .In jail Land mafia King of Pindi Islamabad is supporting him and out side his workers are supporting him . No issue of finance .
4-5 year old story
Movement grows for release of Taseer killer

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

To me NS, SS and Rana Sanaullah are involved in this cold blooded murder, that’s why their pet dog is still surviving. Perhaps he will never be hanged. That is how PML(N) and its leadership function and that is how they settle their grudges.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

This disgusting coward should be hanged

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Must read
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/pakistan-affairs/649405-time-to-hang-mumtaz-qadri-3.html#post10191204

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

lets put illegal child (military courts) to some good use.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Tell NS that if this guy gets released then he will be appointed in personal security of Prime Minister.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Lovely - now we stand where Mexico is. Perhaps our judges too should come to court masked/cloaked.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Jis mulk main a person

  • kills a governor in daylight,
  • in front of 100s of people in including other policemen (I guess on camera too)
  • and proudly accepts that in court on top of it

is still not punished/hanged after 4 years. Uss mulk ka (aur uss k justice system ka) Allah Hafiz hai. If anything, now that hearing is starting, it should finished within couple of days. Its not a "retrial".

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

LOL. yes fear factor may work.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

Dont forget that the governer was a strong person from the ruling party.

No one wanted to read namaz e janaja for Taseer while protectors of law showered the killer with flowers. How can you blame judges if this is the condition.

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Re: Govt lawyers not ready to prosecute Mumtaz Qadri

IHC to hear Taseer killer

ISLAMABAD: Even though the Islamabad High Court is set to take up today the appeal of Salman Taseer’s assassin [Mumtaz Qadri] against his death sentence after a lapse of 40 months, the IHC is likely to decide the petition in the shortest possible time, in line with the Supreme Court Chief Justice’s recent directives to clear out on priority basis all the appeals in terrorism related cases which are pending either with the high courts or with the apex court.

It was in the wake of the December 16 Peshawar school massacre by the TTP that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had convened an emergent meeting of all the five chief justices of the high courts on December 24 wherein they were directed not only to ensure a speedy disposal of the terrorism related cases pending with the Anti Terrorism Courts but also to dispose of the pending appeals [with the high courts] in terrorism cases on urgent basis. The CJ had also decided that offices of the Supreme Court and high courts would separate terrorism-related appeals and militancy-related cases so that the former could be heard on a priority basis for a speedy disposal. Subsequently, the Islamabad High Court has finally taken up the appeal of Salman Taseer’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri.

A division bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will take up Qadri’s appeal against death sentence today. It was on January 4, 2011 that Mumtaz Qadri, a Punjab Police commando from the Elite Force, gunned down Salman Taseer in Islamabad with his official weapon to punish the governor for his stance on the misuse of the blasphemy laws. Taseer had visited Sheikhupura district jail on November 20, 2010 to meet Aasia Bibi. He later said: “She is poor and belongs to a minority community and should be pardoned especially when she has denied saying anything disrespectful.” Investigations into Salman Taseer’s murder showed that Qadri was heavily influenced by teachings of a non-political religious group of preachers with Barelvi leanings - Dawat-e-Islami - led by Maulana Ilyas Attaar Qadri. The followers of the Dawat-e-Islami are mostly seen in green turbans.

After a speedy trial by a Rawalpindi ATC, Qadri, who had proudly confessed to his crime, was found guilty and sentenced to death on two counts with Rs0.2 million fine [on October 1, 2011] by a district and sessions judge of Islamabad, Syed Pervez Ali Shah, on account of killing Salman Taseer. But his conviction was stayed by the Islamabad High Court on October 11, ten days after the ATC verdict. A division bench suspended Qadri’s death sentence till a final decision in his appeal pending before the IHC. The IHC bench, comprising Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi, had admitted Qadri’s appeal against the ATC decision for regular hearing while issuing notices to the state. Former Chief Justice Lahore High Court Khawaja Sharif had appeared before the IHC as legal counsel of Qadri, arguing that the ATC had no jurisdiction to hear this case, as the Anti Terrorism Act was not applicable in this particular case. He insisted that the murder of Taseer did not create a sense of terror among the people and they were instead happy to listen about the murder.

The day Qadri’s death sentence was suspended, a large number of Dawat-e-Islami and Sunni Tehrik protesters had gathered outside the IHC premises to slam the punishment handed down to Taseer’s killer who was showered with rose petals upon his arrival. His appeal was pending with the IHC since then as most of the judges were not ready to take up the case. According to Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, at least five judges had refused to hear the murder case of Salman Taseer against Mumtaz Qadri out of the clergy’s fear. The level of support people like Mumtaz Qadri enjoy in Pakistani society can be gauged from the fact that the Islamabad ATC judge (Syed Pervez Ali Shah), who had handed down death sentence to Qadri, had to leave Pakistan for Saudi Arabia along with his family after receiving death threats from extremists belonging to some influential Sunni sectarian outfit.

In a related development, a mosque with the name of the Jamia Masjid Mumtaz Qadri is being built in Ghouri Town area of Faizabad along the road to the Islamabad Airport. Even today, the self-confessed killer of Taseer is enjoying a free hand at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi to indoctrinate those around him and incite them into killing blasphemy accused and convicts even in their prison cells. An inquiry report into the September 25, 2014 murder attempt on an elderly British schizophrenic who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges and shot by a prison guards at the Adiala Jail, had revealed quite recently that the guard had been provoked to do so by Taseer’s jailed assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, who is leading the life of a prison king. The million-dollar question remains as to why a convicted killer is being permitted to wield so much influence that he is not only able to provoke murder but is also in a position to frighten the law officers of the federal government.

With the Islamabad High Court is taking up Qadri’s appeal today, there are reports that the government prosecutors are reluctant to appear in the court against Salman Taseer’s assassin out of fear. The national media had reported that the federal government had appointed the advocate general of Islamabad to prosecute Qadri’s case. However, the Advocate General Islamabad Mian Abdul Rauf has already refuted having received any such instructions so far, adding that if the competent authority assigned him the case he would consider appearing in the case.

It may be recalled that unidentified bearded men had attacked the participants of a candlelight vigil at Liberty roundabout in Lahore on the death anniversary Salman Taseer on January 5. The attackers uprooted posters, tore apart banners and hit male and female activists of civil society besides manhandling media persons. Therefore, the federal government needs to provide full security and protection not only to the judges in the case but also to the prosecutors so that the self-confessed killer of Salman Taseer, who continues to enjoy the status of a prison king at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, can get the punishment he deserves without any further delay.