4 men sentenced to death in Rawalpindi over ‘online blasphemy’: lawyer – Pakistan

A Rawalpindi court condemned four men to death for publishing online blasphemous content, said a prosecutor’s lawyer. AFP Mondays.

“They were sentenced to death … on Friday for disseminating blasphemous content online against the prophet Muhammad (pubh) and El Qurian”, Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission of Blasphymia Pakistan, a private group that led the case to The Court said AFP.

“Our case was supported by forensic evidence of the devices used in this atrocious act,” he added.

According to the court order of January 24, a copy of which it is available with Dawn.com – The four individuals were sentenced to death for hanging for violating section 295c (use of derogatory comments, etc., with respect to the holy prophet [PBUH]) of the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC).

They were also sentenced to life imprisonment below 295b (polluting, etc., of the Sacred Koran) and 10 years in low prison 295a (deliberate and malicious acts destined to indicate the religious feelings of any kind by insulting their religion or religious beliefs) . “All prison sentences mentioned above will be executed simultaneously,” said the order.

The four were accused under sections 295a, 295b, 295c, 298a (use of derogatory comments, etc., with respect to the sacred characters) and section 11 (hate speech) of the Law on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes in October 2022, according to first information reported by Dawn.com.

A member of a support group formed by families confirmed the sentence to AFP And he said the group would challenge conviction.

“The pattern of arrests and prosecutions in this case is consistent with the previous ones,” said the member of the support group, who spoke anonymously due to security concerns.

“We urge the Government to establish a commission to investigate the increase in these cases before these young people spend the best years of their lives after bars.”

Blasphymia is a incendiary position in Pakistan, where even foundation accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings.

Last May, the Police rescued a Christian man from an enraged mafia who wanted to lynch him and attacked the houses of other members of the minority community in Sargodha about accusations of desecration of the sacred Koran.

The mafia swollen and set fire to a shoe store owned by the Christian family and tried to enter her home after damaging the walls and doors.

The police officer of the district of Sargodha, Assad Ejaz Mashi, said that 25 of the gangsters were arrested from the place and that identified the other attackers.

Later that year, Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar, accused of sharing blasphemous publications on social networks, was shot dead during a shooting with the police in Mirpurkhas on September 19, authorities said.

According to an official order issued by the Inspector General of Sindh (IG), an investigation committee was established to investigate two cases (FIR No. 47/2024 and 48/2024) registered at the Sindhri Police Station on September 19.

According to a copy of the available consultation report with Dawn.comThe committee “unanimously” agreed that Mirpurkhas Police “killed him [Dr Shahnawaz] In an administered meeting and tried to give him legal coverage but failed. ”

The report recommended that the family of the deceased register a statement and submit a first information report under the relevant provisions, while suggesting “strict departmental action” against the UMRkot police personnel and Mirpurkhas that allegedly celebrated the murder.

Meanwhile, the country has witnessed a strong increase in prosecution of cases of “online blasphemy”, with groups of private guards who have charges against hundreds of young people for allegedly committing blasphemy.



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