Lawyers representing a man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan’s populous Punjab province were subject to death threats inside the courtroom where they were giving evidence.
Two lawyers, Rashid Rahman and Allah Dad, said the judge overseeing the case of Junaid Hafeez, an academic who is accused of publishing an offensive drawing of the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook last year, did nothing to intervene.
“During arguments for acquittal of the accused, four persons addressed Rahman in the judge’s presence and said: ‘You will not come to court next time because you will not exist anymore’,” Dad told ucanews.com.
Hafeez, a visiting lecturer in the Department of English at the Bahauddin Zakariya University, denies the charge, and claims that he was falsely implicated by an Islamist party’s supporter who himself wanted the lectureship and was overlooked for the post in the final selection.
“We have been harassed continuously by extremists who gather outside the jail after every hearing and chant slogans against us and our client,” Dad said.
Last year, two lawyers defending the lecturer, Muddassir Sagheer and Haq Nawaz, abandoned the case after receiving death threats.
In a press statement, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) voiced serious concern and indignation over threats extended to the senior lawyer representing Hafeez.
“The difficulty that the accused has had in finding and retaining a lawyer is well known. HRCP views that as a systematic denial of legal representation to the accused,” the group said.
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