[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3



JAPAN:

Death Penalty Movie Week to be held at Tokyo theater


The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a Tokyo theater in 
February, with 8 films from home and abroad providing viewers with an 
opportunity to think about the "right to life."

The event will take place as pro- and anti-death penalty groups have been 
facing off at symposiums and on other occasions since the Japan Federation of 
Bar Associations declared in October it would work for the abolition of capital 
punishment by 2020.

The 8 films to be screened include 2005 German movie "Sophie Scholl -- The 
Final Days," which depicts the anti-Nazi struggle of a student who was 
executed, and "Freedom Moon," produced in Japan in 2016, that recounts the life 
of death row inmate Iwao Hakamada.

Hakamada, convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, was released in 2014 after a 
court decided to reopen the case, but he still remains on death row as 
prosecutors have appealed the ruling.

The film shows how his mental state has deteriorated due to decades-long 
solitary confinement and the endless fear of execution.

South Korean popular movie "Miracle in Cell No. 7," produced in 2013, will also 
be screened during the sixth event.

"Murder victims are deprived of their lives unjustifiably, but offenders are 
also robbed of their 'right to live' under capital punishment," said Masakuni 
Ota, one of the event organizers. "People seem to accept such circumstances 
without question, at a time when exclusion and intolerance are prevalent around 
the world."

During the event from Feb. 18 to 24 at the Eurospace movie theater in Tokyo's 
Shibuya district, 4 movies will be shown each day, accompanied by sessions with 
guest speakers.

The scheduled speakers include actress Kirin Kiki, who played the mother of a 
death row inmate in a movie based on a true story, and pop singer Tsuyoshi 
Ujiki, whose father was convicted of war crimes after World War II.

"We welcome both those seeking abolition of the death penalty and those who 
support or accept capital punishment" so the issue is discussed from various 
viewpoints, Ota said.

The previous 5 Death Penalty Movie Week events attracted a total of around 
6,000 viewers.

In the 4 years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power, 17 inmates 
have been hanged, with a government survey showing over 80 % of people in Japan 
support the death penalty.

On the other hand, Tokyo was urged by the U.N. Human Rights Committee in 2014 
to "give due consideration to the abolition of the death penalty."

Currently, more than 2/3 of nations have abolished the death penalty by law or 
in practice.

For further information on the screenings, call Eurospace at 03-3461-0211 or 
check its website at http://www.eurospace.co.jp/

(source: The Mainichi)






NIGERIA:

LEDAP condemns execution of prisoners in Edo, seeks repeal of death penalty


Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) has condemned the killing on 
December 23, 2016 of 3 death row prisoners in Benin City prison.

As a result, LEDAP has called on the Nigerian government to stop all death 
penalty executions forthwith.

It urged the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to amend the 
Criminal Code and Penal Code as well as the Robbery and Firearms (Special 
Provisions) Act to remove death sentence as punishment for crimes and replace 
it with life imprisonment or term of years sentence.

The prisoners were reportedly executed on account of death warrants signed by 
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

Those executed were Ogbomoro Omoregie, Apostle Igene and Mark Omosowhota.

They were all convicted and sentenced to death nearly 20 years ago by military 
tribunals under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree as 
amended, LEDAP said.

According to a statement by the National Coordinator of LEDAP, Chino Obiagwu, 
the executed prisoners had earlier petitioned the governor, protesting their 
proposed execution.

"In an earlier petition submitted to the Governor by the executed prisoners on 
December 21, 2016 through LEDAP, protesting the plan for their execution, the 
prisoners had pleaded with the Governor to shelve the planned execution because 
there is a pending case at the Court of Appeal brought by all death row 
prisoners in Nigeria against their execution. This appeal has not been decided 
and it was therefore, illegal to carry out the executions," he said.

LEDAP, he said, is appalled that the earliest social duty of Governor Obaseki 
upon assumption of office was the execution of his citizen on death row. "We 
reiterate that all prisoners, including those sentenced to death, retain all 
the fundamental rights endowed on all citizens by the 1999 Constitution.

This was re-amphasized by the Court of Appeal in the case of Peter Nemi v 
Attorney General of Lagos State in 1994.

"The Supreme Court of Nigeria also held in Nasir Bello v Attorney-General of 
Oyo State that a prisoner cannot be legally executed while his case is pending 
in court. In so far as an appeal against the sentences of the death row 
prisoners in Nigeria are pending in court, to the knowledge of the prison 
authorities and the government who participated in the high court proceedings 
before the appeal, there is no legal justification for the Edo executions, 
moreso when it was carried out cruelly on a day to the eve of Christmas."

The group frowned at the action based on the fact that Edo State government 
carried out the execution despite the declaration by Nigerian government at its 
2009 and 2014 Universal Periodic Reports (UPR) to the United Nations Human 
Rights Council that Nigeria has put in place a moratorium on the use of the 
death penalty.

Obiagwu said the December 23, 2016 execution of these 3 prisoners, as well as 
the similar execution of 4 prisoners on June 21,2013 by the same Edo State 
government have undermined Nigeria's declarations to the international 
community for death penalty moratorium.

(source: The Guardian)






QATAR:

Qatar court confirms death penalty for 2 from TN


The highest court of Qatar on Monday upheld death penalties awarded to 2 
labourers from Tamil Nadu and commuted the life sentence of a third to 15 
years' imprisonment. The Court of Cassation's decision means that Alagappa 
Subramanian and Chinnadurai Perumal - on death row - and Sivakumar Arasan have 
exhausted their legal options. All 3 were convicted of the 2012 murder of a 
woman who was a Qatari citizen.

"The court also rejected the prosecution's appeal to have the death penalty 
awarded to Mr. Arasan. The only options left to these men is a clemency 
petition to the Emir of Qatar. The Indian Embassy will have to do this," said 
Nizar Kochery, a lawyer engaged by the Indian Embassy to represent the 3 men.

The case has gone through 3 tiers of the country's judiciary. The Indian 
Embassy stepped in only after the 2nd tier in July 2016, ahead of the deadline 
to file appeals papers after a Doha appeals court upheld a lower court's 
December 31, 2014 sentences.

The case came to light after Suresh Kumar, a Nagercoil-based lawyer, travelled 
to Qatar to meet the convicts. He had been informed of the case by C. Rajammal, 
Mr. Perumal's wife. "I have informed Rajammal of today's verdict. I also 
reached out to Sivakumar's family. Subramanian's family remains untraceable," 
he said.

Mr. Kumar said that Mr. Subramanian maintained that he was from Pudukkottai but 
those living in the address he provided said they did not know him. Perumal 
hailed from Virudhunagar district while Mr. Arasan was from Kallakurichi in 
Villupuram. After Ms. Rajammal submitted a memorandum, the Tamil Nadu 
government released Rs. 9.5 lakh for their legal expenses. "I have advised Ms. 
Rajammal to try to meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Perumal is a kidney 
patient and received treatment within the jail," said Mr. Kumar.

"We have to always respect the local laws and work through the local 
governments and authorities," said Dyaneshwar M. Mulay, Secretary (CPV & OIA), 
Ministry of External Affairs, when asked about the case during a press 
conference on Tuesday. The last Indian to be executed - by a firing squad - in 
Qatar was Arun Abraham from Kerala, in March 2003.

(source: The HIndu)






PHILIPPINES:

'PH could go down as world's new top executioner' - Atienza


The wish of President Rodrigo Duterte to execute 5 to 6 convicts daily would 
plunge the country into the dark ages of "savagery" and make the country a top 
executioner, a pro-life solon said. In a statement, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza 
said the President's wish to have 5 to 6 criminals put to death every day, or 
more than 2,000 every year, under the death penalty would put the country into 
"an unprecedented era of darkness and medieval savagery."

Atienza said daily executions would make the predominantly Catholic country the 
world's top executioner, worse that non-Catholic countries such as China, Iran 
and Pakistan.

"If the President had his way, our predominantly Catholic country could go down 
as the world's new top executioner, ahead of non-Catholic countries such as 
China, Iran and Pakistan," Atienza said.

Last month, Duterte said there would be daily executions of drug convicts once 
death penalty is restored.

"Restore it and I will execute criminals every day - 5 or 6. That's for real," 
Duterte said.

Atienza said moves in Congress to restore death penalty are an "anathema to our 
celebration of life."

"We Filipinos celebrate life. In fact, we celebrate life so much that despite 
our usual troubles, we've been persistently rated among the happiest people in 
the world," Atienza said.

Atienza said it is bad enough that even without the death penalty, the country 
is hounded with a spate of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug criminals 
at the height of the administration's bloody war on drugs.

"We do not want to be brutalized by constant bloodshed. We Filipinos loathe 
killings, whether judicial or extrajudicial, as much as we detest violent 
crime," Atienza said.

"It is bad enough we already have a virtual death penalty in place, with the 
unabated summary executions of alleged suspects sans the benefit of a full and 
fair trial," he added.

Atienza said the real problem is rampant corruption in the criminal justice 
system, as revealed in a House inquiry on the Bilibid drug trade and the 
millions of alleged kickbacks for Bureau of Correction officials.

"The real problem is clearly corruption. The problem is not with the severity 
of the punishment for crime. In fact, corruption is the primary reason why many 
felons are not getting caught, and not getting punished, and this in turn has 
only abetted even more crime," Atienza said.

The bill is expected to undergo plenary debates under second reading once 
Congress resumes from its Christmas break on Jan. 16.

The bill hurdled the justice committee on Dec. 7.

The bill seeks to impose death penalty for more than 20 heinous offenses, such 
as rape with homicide, kidnapping for ransom, and arson with death.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte's staunch ally in Congress, filed the bill 
seeking to reimpose the death penalty after former President now Pampanga Rep. 
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished capital punishment in 2006 for its failure to 
deter crime.

Alvarez filed the bill pursuant to President Duterte's campaign promise of 
returning capital punishment against heinous criminals.

"Philippine society is left with no option but to deal with certain grievous 
offenders in a manner commensurate to the gravity, perversity, atrociousness 
and repugnance of their crimes," according to the bill. Duterte won the 
elections on a campaign promise to restore death penalty.

Alvarez said Congress would look into the cheapest way of carrying out the 
death penalty, either by firing squad, lethal injection or by hanging.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)

*******************

Pro-life coalition formed vs death penalty revival


Pro-life advocates have formed a coalition to oppose moves by the House of 
Representatives to revive capital punishment in line with President Duterte's 
tough stance against criminality, opposition lawmakers bared yesterday.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said there has been a "widening coalition of 
legislators, religious ministers both from the Catholic Church and other 
religious denominations, civil society and NGO networks, and college students 
and youth" opposing the reimposition of the death penalty.

"The broad coalition of anti-death penalty advocates will sustain the campaign 
against the proposed reimposition of capital punishment until the archaic 
proposal is finally consigned to the legislative dustbin," he said.

Lagman stressed that death penalty is not a solution to criminality and the 
drug menace.

"The prevention of heinous crimes involves a complex and multidimensional 
process relative to problems ranging from poverty and inequity to police 
corruption and brutality, inept and discriminatory prosecution, and flawed 
judicial system," he explained.

"All of these negative factors contribute to the fallibility of human justice, 
which ensnare to the gallows even the innocent. Consequently, punishment alone 
is not the solution to crimes," he added.

Another opposition legislator, Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay party-list, also hit 
Duterte's plan to execute through lethal injection 5 to 6 convicts a day.

"It will sink the Philippines into an unprecedented era of darkness and 
medieval savagery. If the President had his way, our predominantly Catholic 
country could go down as the world's new top executioner, ahead of non-Catholic 
countries such as China, Iran and Pakistan," Atienza said.

Duterte's execution plan means that more than 2,000 will be undergoing 
state-sanctioned killings per year. Compare this to the 1,634 convicts executed 
in 25 countries around the world in 2015 recorded by Amnesty International 
(AI).

Excluding China, only 3 countries - Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - were 
responsible for nearly 90 % of the executions.

Iran executed 977 convicts by hanging in 2015, Pakistan put 326 to death by 
hanging, while Saudi Arabia killed 158 by beheading. The number of executions 
in China is regarded a state secret.

(source: Philippine Star)






IRAN----execution

Prioner Executed on Drug Related Charges


A prisoner was reportedly executed at Bandar Abbas Central Prison (Hormozgan 
province, southern Iran) on Tuesday December 27. According to close sources, 
the prisoner, Khaled Jowhari, was executed for possession and trafficking 1 
kilogram and 850 grams of crystal meth and approximately 1/2 a kilogram of 
crack. Mr. Jowhari was reportedly arrested on Saturday November 5, 2011 and 
sentenced to death by the revolutionary court in Bandar Abbas on Tuesday August 
14, 2012.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been 
silent about this execution.

Iranian authorities continue to implement death sentences for drug related 
offenses at a high rate even when an urgent plan was approved in the Iranian 
Parliament last week calling for a halt to the execution of prisoners on death 
row for drug related offenses. Additionally, Iranian Parliament members 
recently sent a joint letter to the head of Iran's Judiciary asking for the 
imminent execution of approximately 5,000 drug-related prisoners to be stopped 
pending further review of their cases.

(source: Iran Human Rights)




SUDAN:

Sudan acquits pastor in trial of Christians charged with capital crimes


A court in Khartoum, Sudan, on Monday released a pastor from prison after 
acquitting him of charges punishable by the death penalty, sources said.

Rev Kwa (also transliterated Kuwa) Shamaal, head of missions of the Sudanese 
Church of Christ (SCOC), was acquitted of charges ranging from spying to 
inciting hatred against the government. He had been arrested without charges 
from his home on 18th December, 2015.

"Yes, he was released today after the court found that he was not guilty of the 
charges brought against him," said attorney Muhanad Nur, part of the team of 
lawyers defending Shamaal and 3 other Christians.

Relieved SCOC church leaders expressed their joy.

"Thank God for his release," said one SCOC leader. "We were sure he was 
innocent."

The court also charged Kwa's colleague, Rev Hassan Abduraheem Taour, and 2 
other Christians, Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Abdulmonem Abdumawla of 
Darfu, with crimes against the state that carry death penalty.

The charges include espionage, waging war against the state and gathering false 
news information, as well as inciting hatred between classes. Abdelrahim Tawor 
was also arrested from his home on 18th December, 2015.

After the 2 pastors' arrest a year ago, Rev Shamal was released on 21st 
December, 2015, but was required to report daily to the offices of the National 
Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), a requirement that was removed on 
16th January last year. He was re-arrested on 25th May.

Rev Shamaal and Rev Taour were charged with trying to tarnish the image of 
Sudan's government by collecting information on persecution of Christians and 
genocide in the Nuba Mountains. The charges included collecting information for 
"other parties hostile to Sudan". They were accused of conducting intelligence 
activities and providing material support for Nuba rebels in South Kordofan 
under 2 charges that carry the death penalty - waging war against the state 
(Article 51 of the Sudanese Criminal Code) and spying (Article 53).

Similarly charged are Czech aid worker Jasek and Abdumawla, who initially said 
he was Muslim but later admitted he was Christian. He was arrested in December, 
2015, after he began collecting money to help a friend, Ali Omer, who had 
needed treatment for burns suffered in a student demonstration. Abdumawla 
contacted Abdelrahim Tawor, who donated money for Omer's treatment, which 
apparently raised the ire of Sudanese authorities, according to Christian 
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Prosecutors have charged Mr Jasek, also arrested in December, 2015, with 
"tarnishing Sudan's image" by documenting persecution. He is also charged with 
waging war against the state, reportedly based on an accusation that he gave 
money to "some individuals" in South Kordofan in 2012, allegedly including some 
rebel fighters.

At one hearing, NISS official Abbas el Tahir accused the defendants of 
conducting "hostile activities against the state that threaten the national and 
social security" in Sudan, according to Netherlands-based Radio Dabanga.

"Since 2012, we banned organizations or individuals working against Sudan," El 
Tahir reportedly said. "However, these NGOs still work and plan to threaten the 
national security and harm the society's interest."

He accused aid organisations of publishing false reports against Sudan.

Attorney Nur said he is hopeful that the other defendants also will be released 
soon. The next court hearing is scheduled for 9th January.

Foreign diplomats and international rights activists have taken notice of the 
case since Morning Star News broke the story of the arrest of 2 pastors in 
December, 2015. Their arrest is seen as part of a recent upsurge in harassment 
of Christians.

Most SCOC members have roots among the ethnic Nuba in the Nuba Mountains of 
Sudan's South Kordofan state, where the government is fighting an insurgency. 
The Nuba along with other Christians in Sudan face discrimination, as President 
Omar al-Bashir has vowed to introduce a stricter version of sharia (Islamic 
law) and recognize only Islamic culture and Arabic language.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir in 
connection with war crimes in Darfur. Due to its treatment of Christians and 
other human rights violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of 
Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999, and the US 
Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended the country remain on 
the list in its 2016 report.

Sudan ranked 8th on Christian support organisation Open Doors??? 2016 World 
Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution.

(source: sightmagazine.com.au)






INDIA:

India Death Penalty Report-2016


In 2016, the Judgments of the Apex Court which considered the Criminal Appeals 
by Death row convicts, raised a suspicion whether it is becoming more and more 
reluctant to award/confirm death penalty. In the month of September 2016, we 
saw the Apex Court setting aside death penalty in seven cases in a row. The 
only death penalty confirmed by the Apex Court in 2016, was in October, when it 
dismissed the review petition filed by an Ex-Cop whose death sentence was 
confirmed by the Court.

The Supreme Court, in December has also agreed to examine whether the High 
Court of Delhi has jurisdiction to entertain a plea against rejection of mercy 
petition of a death row convict, who was convicted by courts in another state. 
In Nirbhaya Case, 1 of the 2 amicus curiae appointed by the Court, has 
submitted before the Court that there is no evidence to prove conspiracy in the 
Nirbhaya rape and murder case and the death penalty imposed ought to be 
revisited.

As far as High Courts are concerned, the Rajasthan High Court has upheld the 
death sentence imposed on a man convicted of sexual harassment and murder of an 
8-year-old girl, terming the crime "rarest of the rare". The Bombay High court 
commuted the death sentence imposed on a man accused of killing his wife, 
daughter and mother in law, into sentence for life imprisonment. The Allahabad 
High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded by a trial court for a man 
accused of raping and murdering a 4-year-old girl, to life imprisonment. Kerala 
High Court has recently commuted the death sentence of Ripper Jayanandan to 
Life Imprisonment specifically till the end of his life.

The NIA Court of Hyderabad has awarded death penalty to Yaseen Bhatkal and four 
other Indian Mujahideen operators, who were accused of perpetrating 2 
consecutive bomb explosions that took place at Dilsukhnagar market in 2013 in 
Hyderabad.

The Centre on the Death Penalty published Death Penalty India Report which 
found that most in death row are backward, uneducated and 1st time offenders 
with no previous crime history. Another finding was, that out of 1,486 death 
sentences imposed by the trial courts, only 4.9% (73 prisoners) remained on 
death row after the appeal in the Supreme Court was decided.

In November 2016, India voted against a UN resolution to establish a moratorium 
on death penalty, stating that it contravened statutory law in India. 115 
countries had voted in favour of the resolution. No executions were carried out 
in India in 2015 and 2016.

Following are the judgments in death penalty cases decided by the Supreme 
Court.

September 1: Triple murder case (Shyam Singh vs. Madhya Pradesh) A three-judge 
Bench of the apex court comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Prafulla C. 
Pant and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit commuted the death penalty awarded to one 
Shyam Singh from Madhya Pradesh after he was found guilty of committing 
parenticide and murdering his nephew.

September 8: Rape-cum-murder of 7 year old (Rajesh vs. State of Madhya Pradesh) 
The same Bench acquitted a rape-cum-murder accused of murder charges and upheld 
life imprisonment and conviction under Section 376 (2) (f) and 377 IPC.

September 15: Soumya rape-cum-murder case (Kerala) (Govindaswamy vs. State of 
Kerala): The Bench acquitted Govindachami, the accused in Soumya 
rape-cum-murder case, of murder charges, while upholding the conviction and 
sentence under Section 376 IPC for rape and other offences.

September 15: Multiple murder case (Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Wani vs. State of J & K) 
The Bench commuted death penalty of one Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Wani from Jammu and 
Kashmir, who was convicted for his involvement in the death of one Mohd. Yousuf 
Ganai and his family members, and also for the murder of one Mohd. Ishaq Bhat.

September 18: Rape-cum-murder of 7 year old (Tattu Lodhi @ Pancham Lodhi vs. 
State of Madhya Pradesh) Another SC Bench comprising Justice Chelameswar, 
Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre commuted the death 
sentence awarded by a trial court and confirmed by the High Court of Madhya 
Pradesh for a man accused of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl, to life 
imprisonment with the further direction that he shall not be released from 
prison till he completes the actual period of 25 years of imprisonment.

September 21: Rape-cum-murder of 7 year old (Kamlesh @ Ghanti vs. State of 
Madhya Pradesh) The SC Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi commuted the death 
penalty imposed by the trial court and the high court on Kamlesh @ Ghanti, who 
was found guilty of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl.

September 23: Murder of wife and 5 kids (Dhal Singh Dewangan vs. State of 
Chhattisgarh) The Bench acquitted Dhal Singh Dewangan, who was sentenced to 
death by the Chhattisgarh High Court for killing his wife and 5 minor children 
by a 2:1 majority. Justices Ranjan Gogoi and U.U. Lalit have set aside the high 
court judgment that confirmed the death penalty while Justice Prafulla C. Pant 
upheld the judgment.

October 4: Review plea against Death penalty dismissed [BA Umesh vs. Registrar, 
High Court of Karnataka] The Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi 
confirming the death penalty imposed on a rape-cum-murder convict Umesh, by 
dismissing his review petition against the dismissal of appeals by the apex 
court in 2011. The apex court Bench comprising Justice Altamas Kabir and 
Justice A.K. Patnaik in 2011, had dismissed the appeal against confirmation of 
death penalty imposed on B.A. Umesh by the Karnataka High Court for the 
rape-cum-murder of a housewife.

(source: livelaw.in)






PAKISTAN:

Islamic Group Calls for Death of Son of Murdered Pakistani Politician After He 
Criticized Blasphemy Law----Shaan Taseer was condemned after recording 
Christmas message that was critical of the country's law


Shaan Taseer, the son of a prominent Pakistani politician assassinated over 
blasphemy allegations, is himself now the target of a police case and a fatwa 
calling for his killing after he recorded a Christmas message criticizing the 
country's blasphemy law.

Mr. Taseer, a human-rights activist, was condemned in the religious edict by an 
Islamic group from the country's mainstream religious tradition, after he 
recorded the message for Pakistan's Christian minority.

In the video message, he called the country's blasphemy law "inhumane" and 
expressed sympathy for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death by 
Pakistan's courts on blasphemy charges.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is illegal and it carries the death penalty. Activists 
say that the threat of being accused of blasphemy has created a climate of 
fear, where anyone can be targeted and the law can't be discussed.

"I'm now in a position something like Salman Rushdie," said Mr. Taseer, 
referring to the novelist who has had to live in hiding since a 1989 edict 
condemned him to death. "They have called for my assassination."

His father, Salmaan Taseer, then governor of Punjab province, was shot dead in 
2011 by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, after he criticized Pakistan's 
blasphemy laws. Mr. Qadri was executed last year after a Supreme Court verdict, 
but his funeral was attended by huge crowds, and his followers are building an 
ornate shrine just outside Islamabad over his grave.

According to the fatwa, issued by a group called Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool 
Allah, the younger Mr. Taseer has "crossed all limits of insulting God and the 
prophet" and is now "condemnable to death". The group, which is legal, is from 
the Barelvi sect, the biggest Muslim denomination in the country, which is 
normally considered moderate but on the issue of blasphemy, it is the most 
hardline.

"In no unclear terms, they've told their supporters to prepare another Mumtaz 
Qadri," said Mr. Taseer, adding that he had received hundreds of messages of 
hate and death threats since he was accused.

Police in Lahore also registered a case against Mr. Taseer under the blasphemy 
law. The case is under a section of the law meant for hate speech.

According to the charge, dated Dec. 30, police found a recording on a memory 
stick left outside a police station in which a person "ridiculed a religious 
law, which may cause provocation."

Nasir Hameed, the police officer in charge of the Islampura police station in 
Lahore where the case is registered, said officers were investigating further. 
The case doesn't name Shaan Taseer, but he identifies himself by name in the 
recording.

"Having a fatwa and a blasphemy case against you is putting a target on your 
back," said Jibran Nasir, a lawyer and activist. "These fanatics can motivate 
people to get you anywhere."

Mr. Taseer, aged 45, is currently outside Pakistan and asked for his location 
not to be revealed. Activists fear that the fatwa still puts him in danger 
abroad and also prevents his ability to return.

In Pakistan, crowds often surround police stations to pressure police into 
registering blasphemy cases, in which both Muslims and non-Muslims are 
targeted. Activists say that the evidence is usually flimsy and the blasphemy 
law is regularly used to settle personal scores. Allegations of blasphemy have 
repeatedly in the past motivated mobs to kill the accused.

Separately, the same religious group threatened on Dec. 31 to issue a fatwa 
against leading opposition politician Imran Khan, unless he apologizes for a 
supposed insult to the Prophet Mohammad in a speech. There was no immediate 
response from Mr. Khan's spokesperson.

(source: Wall Street Journal)