The lawyer of Junaid Hafeez, a Fullbright scholar imprisoned for 13 years in a Pakistani jail, tells DW he is hopeful for his release
A former Fullbright scholar, Junaid Hafeez was sentenced to death under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws. His family and lawyer told DW there is now hope a court will overturn the conviction.
Junaid Hafeez, a former university lecturer and Fullbright scholar, has been imprisoned in Pakistan for 13 years due to comments he allegedly made on Facebook. He was sentenced to death in 2019, but a high court in Lahore began hearing his appeal last week. Hafeez's father, Hafeez-un-Naseer, expressed his hope for his son's release, stating that the case has taken everything from them.
Hafeez's lawyer, Saif-ul-Malook, is optimistic that the Lahore High Court bench will grant his release, citing the academic's fine health and intellectual capabilities. Hafeez was targeted by an Islamist student group after he began working as a lecturer in English literature at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan in 2011. Despite international pressure on Pakistan to change its strict blasphemy laws, human rights groups and Islamic activists remain divided on the case.
Written by urgent.news from DW News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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