The judge who sentenced to death the killer of liberal Pakistani politician Salman Taseer on Tuesday failed to show up at work and may be transferred after his courtroom was ransacked, lawyers said.
Judge Pervez Ali Shah on Saturday convicted police bodyguard Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri over the January 4 assassination that exposed huge faultlines in Pakistan.
Qadri said he killed Taseer over the politician’s opposition to blasphemy laws which sentence to death those convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed. Qadri’s actions made him a hero in the eyes of religious extremists.
On Monday, dozens of furious Islamist lawyers ransacked Shah’s courtroom, smashing windows to protest against the judgement. [AFP] Read more
