September 22, 2026
By Ahmed Saeed
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday, September 22 admitted Junaid Hafeez’s appeal against his death sentence in a blasphemy case for regular hearing, nearly seven years after his conviction.
The division bench comprising Justice Sadiq Mahmood Khurram and Justice Muhammad Jawad Zafar issued notices to the state and counsel representing the private witnesses, directing them to assist the court and argue the case on the next date of hearing. The court will fix the next date later.
During the hearing, the bench expressed concern that the appeal had not been formally admitted for hearing despite the passage of several years since Hafeez’s conviction.
The court also observed that the case was of particular importance given that two lawyers associated with the proceedings had been killed during the trial.
The bench also directed the counsel representing the private witnesses, mainly students of Hafeez who had testified against him, to come prepared on the distinction between a Facebook group and a Facebook page.
The private witnesses had alleged that they had found blasphemous material in a Facebook group associated with Hafeez.
The court further noted that on a Facebook page, only the admin or owner of the page can post anything, while on a Facebook group, anyone can post anything, and responsibility for a post cannot automatically be attached to the owner or admin of that Facebook group.
The bench questioned how responsibility for a particular post could be attributed to the owner or administrator of a Facebook group without establishing who had actually posted the material.
The court also noted that no forensic examination of Hafeez’s social media accounts or electronic devices had been conducted by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA).
According to the observations made during the hearing, the trial court had relied primarily on the ocular account of the investigating officer while convicting and sentencing Hafeez.
Hafeez’s counsel, Asad Jamal, expressed satisfaction with Monday’s proceedings and said he hoped the case would be concluded within the next few hearings.
Speaking to Voicepk after the hearing, Hafeez’s father, Hafeez-ul-Naseer, became emotional while recalling the prolonged incarceration of his son. He said Hafeez had spent 12 years in solitary confinement and expressed hope that the high court would provide him justice soon.
Hafeez was sentenced to death under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code by an additional sessions judge in Multan in December 2019.
A Fulbright scholar, Hafeez was serving as visiting faculty at Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, in 2013 when he was accused of posting blasphemous material on social media and on the university’s notice board.
He was arrested in 2013 and has remained in solitary confinement at Multan Jail since then due to security concerns.
The case has also been marked by violence against lawyers. During the trial, Hafeez’s original counsel, prominent human rights lawyer Rashid Rehman, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in his chamber.
Following the killing, Hafeez’s trial was conducted inside the jail and he was represented by Lahore-based human rights lawyer Asad Jamal.