Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, was sentenced to death in December 2019 on blasphemy charges after allegedly posting derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad on social media.

Arrested in 2013, he has since faced repeated trial delays and has been held in solitary confinement due to attacks by fellow prisoners. His first lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was killed in 2014 for defending him. Hafeez’s trial has faced significant delays and is seen as a miscarriage of justice under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which is often used to suppress freedom of expression and belief. Several UN experts condemned his death sentence, calling for charges to be dropped and for reform of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.