Mumtaz Qadri

Qadri was a commando of the Elite Police and, at the time of the assassination, a member of the squad of personal bodyguards assigned to protect Taseer.

He claimed to have killed the Governor because Taseer spoke in defense of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death.

[5] According to Qadri, he killed the governor for his support of Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and for speaking against the blasphemy law in Pakistan.

He appeared in court on 9 January 2011 and confessed that he had killed Salman Taseer because of his speaking against the blasphemy law.

Justice Dost Mohammad made clear his view that the accused, a uniformed officer, was not entitled to take the law into his own hands and murder a man who was under his protection.

[9] Qadri's funeral was held on 1 March 2016 at Liaqat National Bagh in Rawalpindi and was attended by Hamid Saeed Kazmi.

Markets and business centers were closed and traffic disruption was reported in different locations of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

[16] However, the execution decision was supported by many Islamic scholars, including Mohammad Khan Sherani, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, who said, "Mumtaz Qadri’s act, though driven by religious sentiments, was illegal because he had taken the law into his own hands and he faced punishment because no one is above the law.

"[17] Qadri's supporters also claimed that he was hanged on 29 February, a date which only comes every four years, in order to deny his anniversary.

10,000 of them marched from Rawalpindi into the Red Zone in Islamabad to commemorate the Chehlum of death of Qadri, which is the end of the 40-day mourning period.