Dawn.com :
A district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced Junaid Hafeez, a former university lecturer in Multan, to death on blasphemy charges.
Formerly a visiting lecturer at the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Hafeez was booked on blasphemy charges and was arrested by police on March 13, 2013. The trial of the case started in 2014. According to Amnesty International, Hafeez, who was also in the process of getting a graduate degree in English Literature, was charged with blasphemy over Facebook uploads. Additional Sessions Judge Kashif Qayyum sentenced Hafeez to death and a fine of Rs0.5 million under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC); in case of default he will undergo further imprisonment of six months. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 295-B, and 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs100,000 under Section 295-A of the PPC. 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.
A district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced Junaid Hafeez, a former university lecturer in Multan, to death on blasphemy charges.
Formerly a visiting lecturer at the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Hafeez was booked on blasphemy charges and was arrested by police on March 13, 2013. The trial of the case started in 2014. According to Amnesty International, Hafeez, who was also in the process of getting a graduate degree in English Literature, was charged with blasphemy over Facebook uploads. Additional Sessions Judge Kashif Qayyum sentenced Hafeez to death and a fine of Rs0.5 million under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC); in case of default he will undergo further imprisonment of six months. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 295-B, and 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs100,000 under Section 295-A of the PPC. 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.
