Additional Session Judge Multan Kashif Qayyum on Wednesday night completed the arguments of two sides lawyers in New Central Jail Multan in a case of Junaid Hafeez and reserved the judgement of this case which will be announced on Saturday .Court official told,The court proceedings continued at 1000 PM on Wednesday night .The prosecution lawyers Syed Athar Hassan Shah Bukhari former President of High Court Bar Association Multan, Mian Sajjad Ahmed Chavan,Ex-District & Session Judge, Azeem-ul-Haq Pirzada, Muhammad Zafar Punian Ex-SSP, Hafiz Allah Ditta Kashif, Muhammad Hassan Siddhu, Malik Muhammad Sarfraz Jarh, Muhammad Umar Farooq and Khizar Hayat Qureshi were optimistic that the court may award him capital punishment in blasphemy case to the accused Junaid Hafeez because he had posted some objectionable material on social media, he committed the offence of desecration of Holy Quran and use objectionable remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), He was formerly a visiting faculty member of the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) who has been languishing in solitary confinement in Multan Central Jail for the last six years. Six years of solitary confinement has taken its toll on the mental and physical health of Junaid. He was arrested in March 2013 on blasphemy charges and since then transfer of judges, delaying tactics by prosecution witnesses and lawyers’ reluctance to present the suspect sit on the trial. During the course, Rashid Rehman, who dared put up the defence of Junaid, was gunned down in 2014. The last hearing was conducted on November 21 when Junaid’s statement was recorded. The court is set to conduct hearing on December 16 where both the defence and the prosecution will conclude arguments. The family wants the top court’s intervention for the conclusion of the final arguments as they fear that the prosecution may drag the trial on procedural footings.They say his parents in a letter to the chief justice, pleading the conclusion of the case. For every hearing and to meet Junaid in jail, they have to travel 200 kilomteres from Rajanpur to Multan where court and jail staffers treat them with contempt. The sensitive nature of the charge makes Juaind’s life in jail quite unsafe as several people facing blasphemy trial have been killed inside jails.
The parents of Junaid Hafeez, formerly a visiting faculty member of the Department of English Literature of the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, have appealed to Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa for justice for their son, fearing for his mental and physical health.
They say their son has been languishing in solitary confinement in a cell of the Central Jail, Multan, for the last six years on the false charge of blasphemy.
Junaid was accused of blasphemy in 2013 and his trial had been dragged on since then with one of the defence lawyers gunned down along the way.
“Due to transfer of many judges, delaying tactics of prosecution witnesses, and difficulties finding adequate legal counsel for the defence because of the sensitive nature of the case, our son continues to await justice in a fabricated case,” Junaid’s parents said in a written appeal to the CJ.
On Sept 3, the last prosecution witness — the investigating officer — was questioned in the case which was awaiting a verdict. However, despite the passage of almost three months, no decision had been issued thus far while the prosecution brought five petitions since then, each of which was dismissed by the court, the written statement said.
“Our son, who has already been living under a state of fear and solitary confinement, is facing intense mental stress and anguish.”It added that prolonged solitary confinement for 24 hours in a small cell that measures 8.6 feet had adversely affected his mental health.
When the family complained, the jail authorities arranged for a psychiatric examination and medications were prescribed.
