Pakistan

Mumtaz Qadri does not deserve mercy, Taseer's family appeals to court

Legal heirs of slain governor file application in IHC requesting it to reject Qadri's mercy appeal

Obaid Abbasi February 11, 2015

PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: The legal heirs of Salmaan Taseer filed an application before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday, requesting it to reject the murder appeal of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed killer of the former governor Punjab.

The application was filed by Salmaan Taseer's children Shaan Taseer, Sara Taseer and Sanam Taseer.

In their application, the complainant stated that they came to know that the defence counsel, former chief justice of the Lahore High Court Khawaja Muhammad Sharif had informed the court that the legal heirs have no interest to pursue the case.

However, they sated that they have not received any court notice in this regard.

“It is disrespectful, abhorrent and irresponsible; the counsel should be prevented from making any such statement on behalf of persons whom he does not represent,” the application stated.

They maintained the accused had committed a heinous murder in cold blood and does not deserve mercy. Further, the heirs appealed the accused is a traitor of the country as he murdered the former governor during duty.

The complainant requested the court to reject his murder appeal. However, a court official told The Express Tribune the court has not yet received the application.

The hearing of Qadri's appeal took an interesting turn on Friday, when the IHC remarked that even a judge cannot touch an accused after awarding him punishment; yet, the defence counsel insisted that a person can kill another person under unusual circumstances.

When the two-member bench, comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, resumed hearing on Friday, Justice Siddiqui questioned whether the case should be decided on the basis of emotions or the rule of law.

Counsel for Qadri Justice (retd) Mian Nazir Akhar insisted that “anyone can be killed under unusual circumstances.” Quoting examples from Islamic history, he mentioned incidents in which blasphemers were killed for making derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and their act was appreciated by the then rulers.

COMMENTS (35)

singh | 9 years ago | Reply Fanatics like qadri are giving good home work to authorities. He willingly killed a person but now afraid to die. He must be hanged without delay otherwise its a jungle state.@abbas:

Asok | 9 years ago | Reply Taseer was not just an individual, but the highest government official of the province. This was not just a murder, but an assassination, one that directly attacked the very center of the state. If the state shows any mercy to Qadri, it is undermining its own authority in an irrevocable manner.

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Mohsin Raza Khan | 9 years ago | Reply I agree with the late Salman sahibs family. Not only should Qadri be executed, but his attorneys also punished for making a mockery of the law. This is the litmus test for Pakistan's judicial system. We depend on the judges to deliver an appropriate verdict which in this case is the death sentence. Let the guy enjoy the afterlife. After all that is why his committed this heinous act.

Kolsat | 9 years ago | Reply @Pakistani: What worried me is that even the lawyers were part of the group that feted Qadri. He killed a good person and will be punished by approriate law but who will punish those lawyers. The judge will be under scrutiny by the world to see if hands down the appropriate sentence.

Woz Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply He is a strategic asset

ajeet | 9 years ago | Reply Mullahs will never learn.

Qadri | 9 years ago | Reply If he is spared then God forbids nobody in this country will remain safe, some so called mullahs will use their followers and believers the way they want, they will make them kill anyone even the PM of this country, and I am too worried our judicial system is too weak and I doubt he will not be hanged !! if that happens then Pakistanis will have no choice to leave this country and pursue western citizenship

haji saab | 9 years ago | Reply Pakistani society needs some kind of lessons to learn this is one of them,no one can take life of other because of religion colour or zaat.qadri killed a person with no mercy because qadri thaught that salman taseer was kafar mulhid or other,qadri is sick mentaly ill like people suppoting him he sould be hanged in public to end this madnes.

Agrippa - The Skeptic | 9 years ago | Reply @ Raider: And your point is?

Jibran | 9 years ago | Reply It looks like for the former justices, lying under oath is also allowed in unusual circumstances.

mateen | 9 years ago | Reply @ harry, agreed Mumtaz Qadri and other bearded stuff is backward, What about his defense council headed ex high court judges? Kindly give a comprehensive definition of term "backward"

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply Murder IN THE NAME OF RELIGION is wrong, under any circumstances......there are no if's and but's.

faheema | 9 years ago | Reply I fail to understand why cheap defense lawyers are depriving great Ashiq Rasool, Mumtaz Qadri of promised paradise. I pray cheap defense lawyer including ex chief justice LHC to stay away and let poor Qadri reach his ultimate abode.

truth | 9 years ago | Reply Qadri is a Hero, a true Muslim. Long Live Ghazi Mumtaz Hussain Qadri.

thinker | 9 years ago | Reply he deserve capital punishment. justice should prevail ..

F Khan | 9 years ago | Reply This is the best opportunity for the judiciary to prove that military courts are not needed and they are still not irrelevant, and the nation can trust their judgement.

MJ | 9 years ago | Reply Qadri is a cheat first then anything else. He took an oath, to protect Taseer with his own life but ended up breaking his oath and murdering his master. He is a disallusioned thug. Islamically Taseer's family has the right to demand Qadri's hanging or beheading. These vigilantes should be shown the same treatment that the meted to their victims, by the courts of law in Pakistan. Unfortunately the law in Pakistan protects the criminals and not the victims.

Raj - USA | 9 years ago | Reply It is a heinous crime but is being argued by the legal council on the basis if it is allowed in the religion. To make it more a mockery, the judges are allowing such types of arguments.

Nouman Rifat | 9 years ago | Reply @raider: No one is favoring to not punish the murderers of baldia town. I don't know why always people like you bring something parallel when a Molvi, Imam etc is accused of murder

Mohammad Ali Siddiqui | 9 years ago | Reply All eyes of the nation are looking towards the Islamabad High Court to hear the judgement in Salman Taseer's murder case. One can assume what judgement would be announced after hearing arguments and remarks of the IHC judge(s).

Mahir Malik | 9 years ago | Reply DAMN STRAIGHT !!!!

Farhan | 9 years ago | Reply This murderer along with his advocates must be hanged publicly for causing a bad name to Islam and killing innocents.

amir jafri | 9 years ago | Reply Muslims support Qadri...just as USA supported Raymond Davis....Liberaloons secularoons should sleep easy.

Truth Detector | 9 years ago | Reply @Nadir Mahmood Well said. This will determine the course of Pakistani society. Religious anarchy or rule of law .

Nadir Mahmood | 9 years ago | Reply it is a test case for IHC. A precedent needs to be set ! If Qadri is not to be brought to justice, winning war against terrorism would remain a dream. Just set an example and send a message to such fanatics who use Islam for their vested interests.

pardesi | 9 years ago | Reply If the defense lawyer has lied in the court by saying that Mr Taseer's family is not interested in pursuing the case than the defense lawyer should be thrown in the jail and his licence to practice law should be cancelled.

raider | 9 years ago | Reply @natawaan: plz be calm down, problem is not so superficial, mumtaz qadri has nothing to do with salesman taseer, there is no animosity, you and i witnessed that this is not personnel tussle, similarly, the peoples we call today are nonelse but our ex-mujahidin, they also have no personnel animosity with Pakistani peoples, oe even America, then who made them so, yes these proclaimed terrorists are also have brothers sisters, daughters, mothers, fathers, sons, but they were used and being used, sons of anonymous were used, now they destined to dustbin like tissue paper, their future destroyed, who destroyed their future yes we destroyed, how destroyed, i and you teach them all, that is they are trying to enforce, hanging is nothing to do anything, give back children of the peoples who were sent to jihad, and your children were being educated and nurtured in mami-dadi environment, so solution is change the mind of peoples, give them right, punishment is indispensible and may spark like Syria, GOD PUNISH DISHONESTS, PROGREES IS SLOW BUT SIGNIFICANT, hardly anyone would likely to absorb my point Punjab is wholly and solely is not Pakistan

zaman | 9 years ago | Reply IN a country prevailing of madness, justice will be an an extinct species called the Dodo.

A-No.1 | 9 years ago | Reply @natawaan: Oh no he wont. He is brainwashed, not stupid. The ex-justices speaking in his favour need to answer to their maker.

natawaan | 9 years ago | Reply Qadri says he did the right thing. Lets agree. What is stopping him now? Why is he hiding behind appeals and all that? Step forward and embrace martyrdom.

abbas | 9 years ago | Reply Qadri must be hanged ,he is murder if he has been released then every person Will kill other in the name of blasphemy .

A J Khan | 9 years ago | Reply This case is test of Judiciary. Its neither the killer Qadri nor the victims but the Judges who are in the dock. They cannot escape from Justice.

Pakistani | 9 years ago | Reply These mullahs and their brainwashed ignorant supporters need to understand that just because they grow a beard, that does not give them the right to kill people, steal or damage public property, or become an accuser and judge. If they had an issue with Salman Taseer, they should move the Court. They would not like it if they were murdered because someone objected to their views! We need the rule of law, not the law of the jungle.

raider | 9 years ago | Reply Murderers and perpetrators of baldia town and model town, also don’t deserve mercy, dont spare any killer

harry | 9 years ago | Reply An apt punishment for Qadri (i usually refer to him as mentally challenged ape), would be to crucify him since he has such a backward mindset. Therefore justice should be served accordingly...

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