ISLAMABAD: Former Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif will defend Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, in court on Tuesday, confirmed Lawyer Raja Shujaur Rehman. The Divisional bench (DB) of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising of Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan will hear the case at 10:30am in the IHC. Qadri had filed an appeal before the IHC earlier challenging his death sentence. An anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced Qadri to death earlier this month on two counts for the murder of Taseer. The self-confessed killer’s defence pleas, which invoked religious sentiments and argued the accused was provoked into the act, were dismissed by the court. Qadri, a constable in the Punjab Police and a member of its Elite Force, tried to justify his murder of the governor by stating that he had killed him for supporting Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman whom Taseer had believed had been wrongly convicted of committing blasphemy. Justice Khawaja was appointed Chief Justice of the LHC on April 12, 2009 and retired on 8 December 2010 on attaining the age of superannuation. He was appointed to the court on May 21, 1998. The CJ remained deposed from the bench from November 3, 2007 till March 17, 2009 when he was restored.
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