Pakistan Judge Flees Over Death Threats

Following a series of death threats against him, a Pakistani judge was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Judge Pervez Ali Shah had sentenced Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri to death earlier this month for murdering Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in a high profile case.

After handing down the sentence, Shah received death threats from several Islamic militant groups, according to Pakistan Today.

The death threats have forced Shah to leave Pakistan along with his family for Saudi Arabia, said the special prosecutor for Qadri trial, Saiful Malook, according to the publication.

Malook added that Islamabad had arranged security and lodging for the judge in Saudi Arabia. Though security was provided to the judge and his family, the government, acting on reports from intelligence agencies, opted to send him abroad, he said.

The assassination of Taseer made international headlines, Qadri was his bodyguard and shot the governor more than two dozen times with an assault rifle in broad daylight before he was detained.

Defense lawyers told the BBC that Qadri argued that the assassination was not against the law as he killed an apostate who insulted the prophet.




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