Blasphemy Pakistan: Peshawar police squad poses for selfie with murderer of blasphemy accused
Peshawar: Shocking the world, an image of a Peshawar Police squad posing for a selfie with Faisal, also known as Khalid, who is accused of killing an American citizen in a Peshawar court last week, has gone viral on the internet.
After lawyers taking selfies with the murderer of Tahir Ahmed Naseem, Peshawar police (Elite Force) also joined the bandwagon of making a celebrity out of a criminal involved in a first-degree murder over alleged blasphemy. pic.twitter.com/i3iuvHWpNh
— Gulalai_Ismail (@Gulalai_Ismail) August 3, 2020
Human rights activist Gulalai Ismail shared the image on Twitter and captioned: "After lawyers taking selfies with the murderer of Tahir Ahmed Naseem, Peshawar police (Elite Force) also joined the bandwagon of making a celebrity out of a criminal involved in a first-degree murder over alleged blasphemy."
The murder of American citizen earned US govt attention:
The United States has asked Pakistan to take action over the killing of an American national in a crowded courtroom in Peshawar city as he faced trial for blasphemy.
Tahir Ahmad Naseem, 57, was seated in the court of an additional sessions judge on Wednesday after arguments in his case, awaiting to be shifted to prison, when he was shot multiple times at close range, reported Dawn News.
The US State Department said in a statement: "We are shocked, saddened, and outraged that American citizen Tahir Naseem was killed yesterday inside a Pakistani courtroom."
"Mr. Naseem had been lured to Pakistan from his home in Illinois by individuals who then used Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to entrap him," read the statement.
The U.S. Government has been providing consular assistance to Naseem and his family since his detention in 2018 and has called the attention of senior Pakistani officials to his case to prevent the type of shameful tragedy that eventually occurred.
