Demands for release of Malik Mumtaz Qadri

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of people staged rallies across Pakistan on Friday demanding the release of Malik Mumtaz Qadri sentenced to death for killing Punjab governor Salman Taseer who wanted to reform controversial blasphemy laws.

The Pakistani anti-terror court on Saturday found Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, one of Salman Taseer's bodyguards, guilty of murder and sentenced him to death.

Qadri confessed to shooting Taseer, a member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to his residence in the leafy capital Islamabad on January 4.

He said he objected to the politician's calls to amend the blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty for those convicted of defaming Prophet Mohammed(PBUH). On Thursday he filed an appeal against his death sentence.

About 1,000 people gathered at Islamabad's Aabpara intersection demanding Qadri's release, an AFP photographer said.

The protesters, including supporters of religious parties and students of local madrassas, chanted slogans such as "Qadri is hero" and "We salute his courage". They called for Qadri to be released immediately and shouted: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the honour of Prophet Mohammad(PBUH)"

Rallies were also held in several other cities including Karachi, Quetta, Multan and Rawalpindi, where witnesses said protesters blocked roads by burning tires.

Religious parties had called for shops and markets to shut down in protest at Qadri's incarceration, but reports said the call was not heeded, with establishments in most areas remaining open.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011