The person was accused of posting blasphemous messages on a Whatsapp group. (Representational)
Peshawar, Pakistan:
An anti-terrorism courtroom in northwest Pakistan has convicted and sentenced a Muslim man to dying after he was accused of posting blasphemous content material in a WhatsApp group.
Blasphemy is a massively delicate concern in Muslim-majority Pakistan, the place even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence.
Syed Muhammad Zeeshan was convicted underneath the Prevention of Digital Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by the courtroom in Peshawar on Friday.
“Accused Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, son of Syed Zakaullah in custody has been convicted and sentenced after being discovered responsible”, the courtroom order mentioned, a duplicate of which was obtained by AFP.
Zeeshan, who’s a resident of the northwest metropolis of Mardan, was additionally fined 1.2 million rupees ($4,300) and handed a complete of 23 years imprisonment.
He has the precise to enchantment.
The case arose after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province filed an software with the Federal Investigation Company two years in the past accusing Zeeshan of posting blasphemous content material in a WhatsApp group, Saeed’s counsel Ibrar Hussain instructed AFP.
The “FIA had confiscated Zeeshan’s cell-phone and its forensic examination proved him responsible”, he mentioned.
Whereas Pakistan’s legal guidelines prohibiting blasphemy can carry a possible dying sentence, thus far it has by no means been enforced for the crime.
Though many circumstances contain Muslims accusing fellow Muslims, rights activists have warned that spiritual minorities — significantly Christians — are sometimes caught within the crossfire, with blasphemy costs used to settle private scores.
In accordance with the Nationwide Fee of Justice and Peace, a human rights and authorized help group in Pakistan, 774 Muslims and 760 members of assorted minority spiritual teams have been accused of blasphemy within the final 20 years.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
