ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A police officer was sentenced to death Saturday for the assassination in January of a reform-minded governor, a crime that exposed the growing influence of Islamist extremism in Pakistani society.
The conviction and sentence given Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was not unexpected. He had confessed to shooting Punjab provincial Gov. Salman Taseer outside a cafe in Islamabad on Jan. 4, saying Taseer deserved to die because of his opposition to the country's controversial blasphemy law.
Under the law, it is a crime to utter any derogatory remarks about or insult in any way the prophet Muhammad, the Quran, or Islam. Critics say the law can be exploited to settle scores or persecute minorities.
Taseer, a member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, had spoken out against the sentencing of a 45-year-old Christian woman to death for blasphemy. The woman, Asia Bibi, remains in prison, awaiting execution.
Qadri, 26, was a police commando assigned as one of Taseer's bodyguards. When Qadri first appeared in court, lawyers showered him with flower petals and kissed his cheeks, a reaction that raised fears among Pakistani liberals that support for extremism was spreading through mainstream society.