ISLAMABAD (AP) — A defense lawyer says the confessed killer of a liberal Pakistani governor has pleaded guilty to a murder charge.
Mumtaz Qadri gunned down Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer in January while serving as his bodyguard. Qadri has told authorities he killed Taseer because the governor spoke against harsh Pakistani blasphemy laws that impose the death sentence for insulting Islam.
Defense lawyer Shuja-ur-Rehman Raja says an anti-terrorism court indicted Qadri on a murder charge in a closed session Monday.
Qadri told the judge he did not regret shooting Taseer because he “treated an apostate as he was supposed to be” under his view of Islamic law.
Prosecutors were ordered to produce witnesses and evidence in a hearing set for Feb 26.
