‘First’ Death Sentence handed to Man for Blasphemy on Social Media
10th June 2017
On Saturday, 10th June 2017, a Pakistani court handed a death sentence to a 30-year-old man for blasphemy on social media.
The accused had allegedly posted derogatory content about prominent Sunni religious figures and the prophet Muhammad and his wives on Facebook.
The posting must have been in 2016 or earlier because he was arrested last year.
“A case was registered against him on behalf of the State at CTD Multan police station under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) and Sections 9 and 11w of the Anti-Terrorism Act (which deal with whipping up sectarian hatred).”
“Pakistan has never executed anyone convicted of blasphemy.”
This claim is largely true because people accused of blasphemy are killed before they get sentenced to death.
Pakistan is cracking down against blasphemy related crimes on social media with the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar threatening to block all social media websites with ‘blasphemous content’ earlier this year.
The accused belongs to the Shia community.
He is from the Punjab region that also has the largest Ahmadiyya Muslim population that is also the subject of blasphemy accusations.
More information:
dawn.com/news/1338684/first-death-sentence-handed-to-lahore-man-for-blasphemy-on-social-media
Dawn Newspaper is a recommended, reliable media site for Pakistan but usually avoids telling the full story if it is critical of the government.
