Pakistan sentences man to death for blasphemy on Facebook

[webfact]

Pakistan sentences man to death for blasphemy on Facebook

By Mubasher Bukhari

 

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani counter-terrorism court has sentenced to death a man who allegedly committed blasphemy on Facebook, a government prosecutor said on Sunday, the first time someone has been handed the death penalty for blaspheming on social media.

 

The conviction of Taimoor Raza, 30, follows a high-profile crackdown against blasphemy on social media by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

 

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where insulting the Prophet Mohammad is a capital crime for which dozens are sitting on death row. Even mere accusations are enough to spark mass uproar and mob justice.

 

Shafiq Qureshi, public prosecutor in Bahawalpur, about 500km (300 miles) south of provincial capital Lahore, said Raza was convicted for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad, his wives and companions.

 

"An anti terrorism court of Bahawalpur has awarded him the death sentence," Qureshi told Reuters." It is the first ever death sentence in a case that involves social media."

 

It is rare for a counter-terrorism court to hear blasphemy cases but Raza's trial fell under this category because his charge sheet included counter-terrorism offences linked to hate speech.

 

Qureshi said Raza was arrested after playing blasphemous and hate speech material on his phone on a bus stop in Bahawalpur, where a counter-terrorism officer arrested him and confiscated his phone. The material obtained from the phone led to Raza's conviction, he added.

 

"The trial was conducted in Bahawapur jail in tight security," Qureshi said.

 

Qureshi added that Raza belongs to the minority Shia community and in court he accused of spreading "hate speech" against the Deobani sect, which adheres to a strict school of Sunni Islam.

 

Relations between Shia and majority Sunni communities have flared up at times in Pakistan, with some extremist Sunni groups such as Lashkhar-e-Janghvi trying to exploit sectarian tensions.

 

Several other violent incidents linked to blasphemy accusations have alarmed human rights groups and activists in recent months.

 

Police are currently investigating over 20 students and some faculty members in connection with the killing of Mashal Khan, a student who was beaten to death on April following a dorm debate about religion -- an attack that shocked the country.

 

Since then, parliament has discussed adding safeguards to the blasphemy laws, a move seen as groundbreaking in Pakistan where political leaders have been assassinated for even discussing changes.

 

As Raza's blasphemy conviction was under the counter-terrorism court, he will be able to appeal his sentence in the High Court and later in the Supreme Court.

 

There have been at least 67 murders over unproven allegations since 1990, according to figures from a research centre and independent records kept by Reuters.

 

(Writing by Drazen Jorgic)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-12

[alwaysrainsinUK]

Ridiculous!! This is 2017 not 600ad

[darksidedog]

Blasphemy is as outdated as that which we can't mention or post about. Just yesterday there was a discussion about Sharia law and how it integrated, or didn't, with Western society. Clearly it doesn't. These people are ignorant savages, living in the Dark Ages. I don't think even the utter crackpots from the Westboro Baptist church advocate death for blasphemy.

[wxpwzrd]

Yikes, don't give General Happy any ideas...

[whatawonderfulday]

Better if they had sentenced Facebook to death

[sungod]

Meanwhile Pakistan is the UK's top aid recipient, a nuclear armed nation with a space program. Couldn't make it up......

[ezzra]

Death for Blasphemy and midlevel's Sharia laws that even than

were nothing but exerting

and installing fear in people, glory be the religion of Islam

for it might meant well when it was written but got very badly

interoperated and implemented by the people who profess to

be it's guardians.......

[tonray]

13 minutes ago, sungod said:

Meanwhile Pakistan is the UK's top aid recipient, a nuclear armed nation with a space program. Couldn't make it up......

The US is funnelling dollars and weapons there too...sickening. 

[simple1]

7 minutes ago, tonray said:

The US is funnelling dollars and weapons there too...sickening. 

Pakistan has suffered terrible military and civilian casualties fighting Islamist forces, in turn the military has inflicted thousands of deaths on Islamists - it ain't a black and white scenario. 

 

Hardliner Islamists in Pakistan grew in power under the dictator Al Haq, who was engaging with hard line Islamism to keep his grip on power - obviously a strategic mistake for the future of Pakistan.

 

 

[tonray]

11 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Pakistan has suffered terrible military and civilian casualties fighting Islamist forces, in turn the military has inflicted thousands of deaths on Islamists - it ain't a black and white scenario. 

 

Hardliner Islamists in Pakistan grew in power under the dictator Al Haq, who was engaging with hard line Islamism to keep his grip on power - obviously a strategic mistake for the future of Pakistan.

 

 

It's as black and white as it can be. You don't give aid and support to human rights abusers. Period. We never learn...Pakistan's own system of religious schools (madrassas) is the reason they are fighting Islamist. Pakistan for years supported the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, they are not our friends in any way, shape or form.

[Skeptic7]

1 hour ago, alwaysrainsinUK said:

Ridiculous!! This is 2017 not 600ad

While certainly ridiculous, superstitious and ignorant beyond comprehension in this day and age, it is sadly the norm in the back-assward Muslim world. Free thinking bloggers and authors are being hacked to death by angry mobs in Bangladesh on a regular basis and Saudi Arabia just sentenced a non-believer to death recently (not the first either) and then the poor guy lost his appeal and faces execution for not accepting their flavor of "stupid-stition".  

[simple1]

4 minutes ago, tonray said:

You don't give aid and support to human rights abusers. Period. <snip>

tell that to Western governments worldwide who support dictatorship and countries who commit systematic human rights abuse in their international & regional  interest. Although one can agree it is morally unacceptable it is not a black and white judgement in self interest power politics.

[tonray]

1 minute ago, simple1 said:

tell that to Western governments worldwide who support dictatorship and countries who commit systematic human rights abuse in their international & regional  interest. Although one can agree it is morally unacceptable it is not a black and white judgement in self interest power politics.

Apparently these policies have not worked out too well...generally speaking. Maybe a time for a change in thinking.

[darksidedog]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Pakistan sentences man to death for blasphemy on Facebook

I wonder if they will also be prosecuting any one who "liked" the post. Our PM would be happy to see that precedent set.

Edited June 12, 2017 by darksidedog

[Emster23]

Stephen Fry (wonderful man) left himself open to blasphemy charges in Ireland. Other "enlightened" Western countries also have blasphemy laws. Talk about victimless crimes.... If Allah is so tough, why can't he defend himself? Run out of lightning bolts?

[NickJ]

Good thing they can back up this useless bravado with nuclear weapons....

[Andaman Al]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

Death for Blasphemy and midlevel's Sharia laws that even than

were nothing but exerting

and installing fear in people, glory be the religion of Islam

for it might meant well when it was written but got very badly

interoperated and implemented by the people who profess to

be it's guardians.......

ALL Monotheistic religions are/have been the same. What we see in Islam is exactly the process Christianity went through. The purpose of the 3 Abrahamic religions is to rule by instilling fear in a hopefully illiterate population. With literacy Christianity and Judaism have sort of moved on, but as Islam tends to target and appeal to those who are less literate we see the same things occurring now as did in Europe 600 years ago. Religion is bad, ALL religion is bad.

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 hour ago, whatawonderfulday said:

Better if they had sentenced Facebook to death

face book is a tool of freedom of speech, mostly.  the internet will continue to allow people to speak out weather you like their views or not. double edged sword of course.

[whatawonderfulday]

2 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

face book is a tool of freedom of speech, mostly.  the internet will continue to allow people to speak out weather you like their views or not. double edged sword of course.

No such thing I am afraid of freedom of speech, just an ideological dream. Facebook and the likes ,  including this forum even,  has to be moderated upon.  Otherwise the freedom to state hatred or racial views and others, would ultimately ensure the curtailment of many social media outlets.   Therefore freedom of speech is only available depending on what freedoms have been bestowed upon the writers by specific nations.

 

[wabothai]

2 hours ago, alwaysrainsinUK said:

Ridiculous!! This is 2017 not 600ad

It is 2017 only in the "civilized" world.

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

A Pakistani counter-terrorism court has sentenced to death a man who allegedly committed blasphemy

Apparently blasphemy is an act of terror in Pakistan...

In medieval times, Islamic nations were considered to be enlightened... and then they got stuck.

[williamgeorgeallen]

18 minutes ago, whatawonderfulday said:

No such thing I am afraid of freedom of speech, just an ideological dream. Facebook and the likes ,  including this forum even,  has to be moderated upon.  Otherwise the freedom to state hatred or racial views and others, would ultimately ensure the curtailment of many social media outlets.   Therefore freedom of speech is only available depending on what freedoms have been bestowed upon the writers by specific nations.

 

agreed. it is hard to find a balance that keeps the majority happy.

[Andaman Al]

17 minutes ago, wabothai said:

It is 2017 only in the "civilized" world.

I get what you mean but I am afraid with all I have observed in the last number of years the term 'civilised' is grossly misused and applied on most occasions with an inappropriate degree of generosity. It would be an interesting exercise to go through the list of nations and tick off who really is 'civilised', I don't think there would be too many ticks.

Edited June 12, 2017 by Andaman Al

[whatawonderfulday]

1 minute ago, Andaman Al said:

I get what you mean but I am afraid with all I have observed in the last number of years the term 'civilised' is grossly misused and applied on most occasions with an inappropriate degree of generosity. It would be an interesting exercise to go through the list of nations and tick off who really is 'civilised', I don't think there would be too many ticks/

First you would need to define "civilised".  That would be impossible to define with universal acceptance I would think.  therefore by association impossible to define who is or who is not a civilised. So I don't think their could be any ticks that would receive universal acclaim.

[bert bloggs]

2 hours ago, alwaysrainsinUK said:

Ridiculous!! This is 2017 not 600ad

In our world it is ,but not in theirs .

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

It's as black and white as it can be. You don't give aid and support to human rights abusers. Period. We never learn...Pakistan's own system of religious schools (madrassas) is the reason they are fighting Islamist. Pakistan for years supported the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, they are not our friends in any way, shape or form.

What happened in Pakistan is that the government abdicated any responsibility for educating its citizens. It prefers to spend money on its armed forces. Actually, there is one exception: Pakistan does finance a splendid educational system for the children of officers in the armed forces. But most Pakistanis, for lack of anything better, turn to madrassas to educate their children. Madrassas that are largely financed by the Saudis and the UAE. Before that, the predominant form of Islam in Pakistan was of the Sufi school - a very very tolerant form of Islam.

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Andaman Al said:

ALL Monotheistic religions are/have been the same. What we see in Islam is exactly the process Christianity went through. The purpose of the 3 Abrahamic religions is to rule by instilling fear in a hopefully illiterate population. With literacy Christianity and Judaism have sort of moved on, but as Islam tends to target and appeal to those who are less literate we see the same things occurring now as did in Europe 600 years ago. Religion is bad, ALL religion is bad.

Amen to that !

 

How the f can everyone believe in these fairy tales, is beyond my comprehension, yeh yeh, each to their own, but r we not in the 21st century ?

 

[Andaman Al]

36 minutes ago, whatawonderfulday said:

First you would need to define "civilised".  That would be impossible to define with universal acceptance I would think.  therefore by association impossible to define who is or who is not a civilised. So I don't think their could be any ticks that would receive universal acclaim.

We seem to be in some sort of agreement then. Just being 'Western' does not qualify a country to be awarded the laudatory term - civilised !

[cruisemonkey]

What do you expect from a country that pretends to be anti-terrorist, but hides and supports the perpetrators?

[The Deerhunter]

2 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Stephen Fry (wonderful man) left himself open to blasphemy charges in Ireland. Other "enlightened" Western countries also have blasphemy laws. Talk about victimless crimes.... If Allah is so tough, why can't he defend himself? Run out of lightning bolts?

We Atheists all consider that blasphemy is a victimless crime.  If God does not exist how can he be offended?