LAHORE: Former chief justice Lahore High Court Khawaja Sharif will defend Mumtaz Qadri, the accused killer of former governor Punjab Salman Taseer, DawnNews reported on Monday.

The hearing of the appeal against the death sentence of Qadri will be heard by a two-member bench led by Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman.

The panel of Qadri’s lawyers including Khawaja Sharif, Malik Jawad, Malik Rafiq and Shuja-ur-Rehman, will be appearing before the court.

Qadri signed his appeal papers today in Adiala Jail.

Qadri confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to his residence in the leafy capital Islamabad on January 4.

He said he objected to the politician’s calls to amend the blasphemy law.