Pakistani professor gets death sentence in blasphemy case

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Pakistani professor gets death sentence in blasphemy case

By ASIM TANVEER
December 21, 2019

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani court on Saturday convicted a Muslim professor of blasphemy, sentencing him to death for allegedly spreading anti-Islamic ideas.

Junaid Hafeez has been held for six years awaiting trial. He’s spent most of that time in solitary confinement because he would likely be killed if kept with the general population, local media have reported. Due to security concerns, Saturday’s trial was held inside the jail where Hafeez is being held.

Defense attorney Shahbaz Gormani said his client was wrongly convicted and that the verdict would be appealed.

Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law carries an automatic death penalty for anyone accused of insulting God, Islam or other religious figures.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/2cf2efdb2284dcd922b9c308e3832a8b

[3Hotdogs]

1. I bet Franklin Graham wishes we had that law in the U.S.

[Fullduplexxx]

2. Cause nothing says God's love like an execution

[edhopper]

3. But China!

Atheist countries execute people too!

[Eugene]

4. ...and they get criticized here for it too.

I and others have posted about China's cultural genocide of the Uighurs. I try to be an equal opportunity critic.

[edhopper]

5. I was being sarcastic

Taking the piss from a certain other poster.

[Cartoonist]

6. Compare and contrast

Six years of solitary confinement waiting for the death penalty.

One day of torture, three days of solitary confinement, emerging rested and refreshed.

Who's the real hero?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. His first lawyer was murdered; prosecutors handed out sweets in celebration of the death penalty

Mr Hafeez's first lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was shot dead in 2014 after agreeing to take on the case.

The lecturer has also spent years in solitary confinement, after repeated attacks by other prisoners.
...
Mr Hafeez's current counsel Asad Jamal said the verdict was "most unfortunate", and told AFP news agency that they would appeal against the decision.

Prosecution lawyers, meanwhile, distributed sweets to their colleagues, who chanted "Allahu akbar" and "death to blasphemers".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50878432

Because nothing says "we're a 21st century country" like trivialising the execution of a man for a victimless "crime" as if it were a birthday. After their side had murdered an innocent lawyer who had antiquated notions of defending an accused man.