On Saturday, Pakistani Additional Session Judge Mohammed Tariq Ayub convicted four suspets, death sentence and 80 year imprisonment is awarded for insulting prophet Mohammad, his companion and his wife on Facebook.
The convicts are identified as Wajid Ali, Ahfaq Ali Saqib, Rana Usman and Suleman Sajid. A court official said that the convicts uploaded blasphemous content on Facebook from four different IDs. “The judge after hearing arguments of both prosecution and defence and witnesses accounts awarded the death penalty and 80 years imprisonment to each of them on different counts,” the official said.
They were also slapped with a fine of PKR 5.2 million. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation (FIA) Cybercrime registered a case under the PECA (Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act) and Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Shiraz Farooqi, a citizen.
“There is overwhelming evidence that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws violate human rights and encourage people to take the law into their own hands. Once a person is accused, they become ensnared in a system that offers them few protections, presumes them guilty, and fails to safeguard them against people willing to use violence,” the Amnesty International said.
As per Amnesty International, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often used against religious minorities and others who are the target of false accusations, while emboldening vigilantes prepared to threaten or kill the accused. It further added that in perversion of the justice system, the accused are often presumed to be guilty based on little or no evidence.
