Lawyer arrested for allegedly providing gun in slaying of blasphemy accused in Peshawar court

Published August 19, 2020
Tahir Ahmad Naseem, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was under police escort when he was fatally shot in court on July 29. — AFP/File
Tahir Ahmad Naseem, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was under police escort when he was fatally shot in court on July 29. — AFP/File

A lawyer has been arrested for allegedly giving a pistol to a teenager accused of gunning down a US citizen as he appeared in a Peshawar court on blasphemy charges, officials told AFP on Wednesday.

Last month's killing of Tahir Ahmad Naseem in a crowded courtroom sparked outrage in the United States.

The US State Department has urged Pakistan to take action in his case and called for a reform of the blasphemy laws under which he was being held.

Naseem, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was under police escort when he was fatally shot in court on July 29.

According to investigating officer Lalzada Khan, a junior lawyer was arrested on Tuesday for “allegedly providing a pistol to the assassin to kill Naseem”.

“[The lawyer] was produced before the judge in an anti-terrorism court. He was remanded into police custody for three days,” Khan told AFP.

Authorities say the shooter, who according to police is 17 years old, has confessed to the killing, claiming the lawyer provided him with the pistol.

The teenager withdrew his bail petition from an anti-terrorism court on Monday, with a panel of lawyers telling the court that their client didn’t want to pursue the bail plea and was only interested in an early trial of the case.

Lawyers don't typically undergo a pat-down before going into courts, and officials said the arrested lawyer had discreetly handed the pistol over to the teenager.

Washington has said Naseem was lured from his home in Illinois to Pakistan in 2018, when he was arrested on blasphemy charges.

Up to 80 people are known to be imprisoned in Pakistan on blasphemy charges — half of whom face life in prison or the death penalty — according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The US State Department has put Pakistan on a blacklist over religious freedom, pointing to the blasphemy cases.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.