On March 27, a session court in Lahore sentenced a Christian
man at the heart of the controversy that triggered the riots to death for
blasphemy. After a week, on April 4, 2014, session court in Toba Tak Singh announced
death sentence for a Christian couple, Shafaqat Emmanuel and his wife Shagufta
Kauser, accused of sending blasphemous text massages.
According to World Vision in Progress, additional
session judge, Mian Amir Habib has announced the death sentence for a Christian
couple accused of blasphemy case. Last year, on July 21st, 2013, a
crippled Shafaqat Emmanuel and his wife Shagafta Kauser were arrested under
First Investigation Report – FIR No. 407/13 under section 295-B & C,
allegedly sending blasphemous text massages to the local Muslims. WVIP reported
that neither the SIM card was registered with their names nor the couple was qualified
enough to write these text in English. Furrakh H Saif, chief of WVIP managing
the case said that the hypocrisy and the shallowness of our legal system stands
exposed. As usual, the lower court has gone with the populist, Islamist stance
on a sensitive blasphemy case and kicked the ball down the road to the high
court. The blasphemy law will continue to bed evil Pakistan as long as they are
on the statute books and local courts remain susceptible to fear of or coercion
by violent extremists, he said.
In this situation we fear that Pastor Adnan and Asif
Pervaiz could be other victims of our Pakistani extra judicial killing, he
added.
A recent report from a US government advisory panel said
Pakistan used blasphemy laws more than any other country in the world; listing
15 people on death row and 19 others serving life sentences.
In January 2014, an elderly Briton was sentenced to
death for blasphemy; though his lawyers said that court failed consider “overwhelming”
evidence of his mental illness.
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