PESHAWAR – A court in the country’s northwestern region Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has sentenced a man to death over blasphemous messages sent over the instant messaging service WhatsApp.
Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, a resident of Mardan, was found guilty and handed over a death sentence by an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar after a complaint was registered two years back against him under the country’s stern cybercrime and blasphemy law.
In 2021, a case was lodged against Zeeshan by FIA Counter-Terrorism Wing, under sections 295-A, 295-C, 298-A, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Acts and sections related to child pornography and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
It was learned that a man from Talagang district approached cyber wing officials, who with the help of local police apprehended and charged the accused for sharing blasphemous content using WhatsApp groups.
Zeeshan was accused of sharing a smear campaign against Islamic personalities on Whatsapp and other platforms. After the completion of the trial, the court maintained that there were strong pieces of evidence against the accused.
In light of the sensitivity of the matter, the accused was tried inside the Peshawar Central Prison, where he was kept since his detention. ATC awarded him a death sentence and slapped a penalty of Rs0.3million under Section 295-C of the PPC, 10 years rigorous imprisonment and an Rs0.2 million fine under Section 295-A, 3 years imprisonment, and Rs0.1million fine under Section 298-A, and five years rigorous imprisonment and Rs0.2 fine under the terrorism act.
For the malicious act, he gets additional two years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs0.2 million fine under Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, and three years of rigorous imprisonment and a similar fine under Section 22 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws
Blasphemy issues continue to make headlines in Pakistan. Last year, a Sri Lankan citizen working in a factory was beaten to death and torched by a charged mob over alleged blasphemy.
Such acts of disrespecting religious personalities are highly condemnable in the South Asian nation, with the accused often slayed by mobs before courts reach a verdict on their cases.
