Man gets death penalty over blasphemy on social media

An anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur awards the sentence

BAHALWALPUR: In a first, an anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur sentenced a man to death for committing blasphemy on social media.

According to details, the counter-terrorism department in Multan registered a case against Taimoor Raza on charges of blasphemy.

Based on the charges, Raza was arrested and presented in an anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur. Judge Shabbir Ahmad Awan, over the course of the trial, found significant proofs against Raza and awarded him a death sentence.



Raza’s lawyer Rana Fida Hussain told AFP that his client was innocent and that he would appeal the conviction.

The government has launched a crackdown against social media users maligning Islam and state institutions.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had also warned, in a news conference on May 23, that no restriction would be imposed on social media, but at the same time unbridled freedom could not be allowed.

(With additional input from AFP)