Pakistani court docket sentences man to demise for WhatsApp ‘blasphemy’ | World News

An anti-terrorism court docket in northwest Pakistan has convicted and sentenced a Muslim man to demise after he was accused of posting Pakistan court docket sentences man to demise for blasphemy in a WhatsApp group.

Blasphemy is a massively delicate challenge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, the place even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence.

Syed Muhammad Zeeshan was convicted beneath the Prevention of Digital Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by the court docket in Peshawar on Friday.

"Accused Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, son of Syed Zakaullah in custody has been convicted and sentenced after being discovered responsible", the court docket order stated, a duplicate of which was obtained by AFP.

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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 best to attraction.

The case arose after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province filed an utility 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 informed AFP.

The "FIA had confiscated Zeeshan's cell-phone and its forensic examination proved him responsible", he stated.

Whereas Pakistan's legal guidelines prohibiting blasphemy can carry a possible demise sentence, to this point it has by no means been enforced for the crime.

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Though many circumstances contain Muslims accusing fellow Muslims, rights activists have warned that non secular minorities -- significantly Christians -- are sometimes caught within the crossfire, with blasphemy prices used to settle private scores.

In line with the Nationwide Fee of Justice and Peace, a human rights and authorized support group in Pakistan, 774 Muslims and 760 members of assorted minority non secular teams have been accused of blasphemy within the final 20 years.