LHC seeks prosecution arguments in Junaid Hafeez blasphemy appeal

The Lahore High Court on Tuesday took up former university lecturer Junaid Hafeez’s appeal against his death sentence in a blasphemy case, asking the prosecution to present arguments on whether electronic evidence used to convict him was admissible. Hafeez was sentenced to death in 2019, and his appeal has been pending since 2020.

A two-judge bench of Justices Sadiq Mahmud Khurram and Muhammad Jawad Zafar heard the appeal, Dawn reported. Prosecution lawyer Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry and Hafeez’s lawyer Advocate Asad Jamal appeared before the court.

The case centres on allegations that Hafeez posted blasphemous material in a secret Facebook group, according to ThePrint. The outlet reported that his conviction relied on digital evidence, which is now being challenged before the high court.

Hafeez was a university lecturer at the time of his arrest. In a separate essay for Dawn, a writer noted that Hafeez turned 40 this year and that both the writer and Hafeez had lived in Rajanpur, Punjab. The essay did not add new details about the legal proceedings.

Blasphemy convictions in Pakistan carry the death penalty, and appeals in such cases are closely followed by human rights groups. Hafeez’s lawyers argue the electronic evidence was not properly authenticated and should not have been used to convict him, according to ThePrint.

The court requested further arguments from the prosecution on the admissibility of the digital evidence. No date for the next hearing was immediately announced. The high court’s decision on the admissibility question could affect how social media evidence is treated in future cases.