Court adjourns hearing of Taseer assassination case

ATC records statements of two official witnesses; hearing adjourned till March 26.

RAWALPINDI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Adiyala Jail, Rawalpindi heard the case of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of slain Governor Salmaan Taseer on Saturday.

The court recorded the statements of two official witnesses and adjourned the hearing till March 26.

Around 150 people rallied outside the Adiyala prison in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where the hearing took place, chanting slogans in support of Qadri.

Qadri has confessed to killing Taseer and said he objected to the politician's calls to reform the blasphemy law, which mandates the death sentence for those convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).

"Today, two more witnesses recorded their statements in the court, the judge later adjourned the hearing until March 26," Malik Mohammad Rafique, one of Qadri's lawyers, told AFP outside the prison. The witnesses, a police draftsman and a constable, told the court about the scene and the post-mortem examination, he said.

Earlier last month, the ATC recorded statements of four eyewitnesses including a doctor who conducted the postmortem of Taseer and three police constables.

A hearing in the case is being held every week.

The police had earlier submitted a three-page-long charge-sheet, in which Qadri was booked under Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act and Section 302/109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Qadri was formally indicted by the ATC on February 14.

Salmaan Taseer was assassinated on January 4 in Kohsar market by Qadri, his own security guard, for his statements about the blasphemy law.