Pakistan has yet to hear Junaid Hafeez’s appeal — Dawn
In Pakistan, the appeal of English literature lecturer Junaid Hafeez, who was sentenced to death in 2019 on blasphemy charges, is still pending. Hafeez is being held in a high-security prison in Multan, where he has spent 13 years behind bars, Dawn reports.
In 2013, several students accused Hafeez and the then head of department, Shireen Zubair, of blasphemy. Leaflets calling for the lecturer’s arrest and removal from his position were distributed on the university campus. Zubair soon left the country, while Hafeez was detained on March 13, 2013, in Lahore, where he had arrived by bus from Multan.
The verdict and prolonged appeal
A court in Multan found Hafeez guilty in December 2019 under Articles 295-A, 295-B and 295-C of Pakistan’s Penal Code and sentenced him to death. His lawyer, Asad Jamal, argued that the prosecution presented no specific evidence, resorting instead to threats and claims that the defendant was allegedly “against Islam.”
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An appeal against the verdict was filed in 2020. At the same time, the High Court must consider a submission concerning the death sentence, a procedure under which an independent panel of judges reviews the case materials to confirm the verdict. According to Hafeez’s current lawyer, Saif-ul-Malook, hearings in a case decided in 2019 have repeatedly been postponed, although the court is already hearing appeals in cases in which rulings were issued in 2021.
Detention conditions and legal defense
According to Jamal, Hafeez is held in a cell measuring approximately 1.8 by 2.4 meters, with a toilet in the same room. The lawyer described the conditions as unsanitary: air enters the cell through the door and a small opening. Hafeez’s family and defenders also reported episodes of mental breakdowns.
Hafeez’s first lawyer withdrew from the case in June 2013 because of threats. Human rights defender Rashid Rehman, who subsequently represented Hafeez, was killed by armed attackers in his office in 2014. Jamal took over the case afterward. The UN Committee Against Torture separately mentioned Hafeez, pointing to the prolonged isolation of prisoners in blasphemy cases.
