LHC seeks prosecution arguments on electronic evidence in Junaid Hafeez's appeal in blasphemy case

On Tuesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) requested the prosecution to present arguments regarding the acceptance of electronic evidence in the appeal of former Bahauddin Zakariya University lecturer Junaid Hafeez, who received a death sentence for blasphemy. Hafeez was apprehended in 2013 following allegations that he had disseminated blasphemous content on social media and employed such language during his lectures.

A two-judge bench, consisting of Justice Sadiq Mahmud Khurram and Justice Muhammad Jawad Zafar, heard the appeal, with the counsel for Hafeez, Asad Jamal, and the prosecution lawyer, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, present. The court's attention was particularly focused on the prosecution's stance on the electronic evidence, which comprised a Facebook page believed to have been associated with Hafeez.

The proceedings were subsequently postponed, with the judges hinting that a new hearing date would be announced later. Initially, the bench observed that formal notices had not been issued to the parties following the appeal's transfer from the LHC's Multan bench to its principal seat. The appeal was moved to Lahore in December 2021 at the behest of Hafeez's legal representative.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the necessary notices were issued and acknowledged by both attorneys. Junaid Hafeez, who held a visiting faculty position in the English literature department at BZU, was taken into custody on March 13, 2013. His trial concerning the alleged Facebook postings commenced in 2014 and was subsequently transferred to Multan Central Jail due to security concerns.

On December 21, 2019, a Multan district and sessions court handed down a death sentence for blasphemy charges to Hafeez. Hafeez, who had previously filed an appeal against his conviction in 2020, had faced several delays in the proceedings.