A
court in Pakistan has sentenced a Christian man to life imprisonment under the
country's blasphemy law for allegedly sending "blasphemous" text messages from
his mobile phone.
After
the court in the city of Rawalpindi in the Punjab province sentenced Zafar
Bhatti on Wednesday, legal advocacy group CLAAS, which is based in the United
Kingdom and run by Christians from Pakistan, said it will challenge the
decision, according to the news website Christians In Pakistan.
The
court overlooked lack of evidence, the group said.
Bhatti
has been in Adiala Central Jail since the accusation was made in 2012. The bar
association at the time passed a resolution saying no lawyer would represent the
Christian man. However, CLAAS represented him.
"The
lower court's judges always hesitate to make decisions on the merit, or free
people accused of blasphemy, and instead transfer their burden to the higher
court without realizing how their decision will impact the accused and their
families' lives," Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, said in a statement.
"Bhatti is innocent and will be freed by the higher court. But it will take
several years for his case to be heard by the High court, and until then he and
his family will continue suffering needlessly."
The
Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan estimates that at least 65
people have been killed over blasphemy allegations since 1990, and dozens more
convicted of the crime are on death row.
Pakistan's
blasphemy laws, which are embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal
Code, carry the death penalty, and yet there is no provision to punish a false
accuser or a false witness of blasphemy. Allegations of blasphemy often stem
from the Muslim accuser's desire to take revenge and to settle petty, personal
disputes, according to Christian groups working in the country.
In
January, a 70-year-old Christian grandpa was arrested and beaten by police in an
attempt to extract a confession after he was accused of writing letters that
were deemed insulting to Islam. Now he could face years in prison or possibly
death.
Mukhtar
Masih and his family were taken into custody in the village of Lambanwali in the
Punjab province on Jan. 28 after police stormed his home around 10 p.m. and
informed him that a blasphemy case had been lodged against him. According to the
accusation of local Muslim residents filed at the Rahwali police station, Masih
allegedly wrote blasphemous messages with derogatory comments toward the Muslim
prophet Muhammad and the Quran.
The
London-based charity British Pakistani Christian Association reported at the
time that that Masih was accused of pinning the notes on Gulzar Mosque. Qadri
Shahbaz, the imam of the mosque, claimed to have found the note on Jan. 26 and
two other local Christians were initially accused of writing the notes. But
having been pressured, the two Christians reportedly incriminated Mukhtar and
claimed he was the man who penned the note.
Read
more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistan-sentences-christian-man-to-life-in-prison-for-insulting-islam-182773/#mQEYHKGXSDdIfK0j.99
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