ASIA/PAKISTAN - Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy on WhatsApp

Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - Shagufta Kiran, a 40-year-old Pakistani Christian, was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death under Article 295-C of the Penal Code for defaming the Prophet Muhammad through a message on the social media WhatsApp. As lawyer Rana Abdul Hameed points out, a judge of the first instance of the Special Court of Islamabad, which implements the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), also imposed a fine of 300,000 rupees (about a thousand US dollars) at the end of a trial that lasted about three years. The defense, however, stated that "Kiran was not the author of this content and had simply forwarded it in a chat without reading it," but this was not enough to prevent a conviction.
The woman, who has a husband and four children, was arrested on July 29, 2021 in Islamabad by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for sharing blasphemous content in a WhatsApp group in September 2020 (see Fides, 31/8/2021). She is imprisoned in Adyalaa Central Prison in Rawalpindi and will serve her sentence there until her sentence is carried out. The defense attorney has announced that he will appeal to the Islamabad High Court, the second instance.
According to the lawyer, "the person who wrote the incriminating message is free; the person who only commented on it without approving the content, on the other hand, has been convicted. We believe that Shagufta was accused because she is a Christian: she is an easy target and vulnerable." Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the possible crime of blasphemy on the Internet and social media, considered by Islamic organizations as "a growing threat that must be punished with the utmost severity", is being closely monitored. The Federal Police's Cybercrime Unit monitors and reports to the police those who post blasphemous content online. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 20/9/2024)

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