A court in Lahore, capital of the Punjab province of Pakistan, sentenced a Christian man to death for committing “blasphemy”: Asif Pervaiz, 37, has been in prison since 2013 on charges of having sent “blasphemous” SMS text messages to employer Muhammad Saeed Khokher.
As reported to the Agenzia Fides by the lawyer Saif-ul-Malook, the Muslim lawyer who also defended the Christian Asia Bibi, the court did not give credit to his testimony, in which the Christian man denied any wrongdoing, and sentenced Asif Pervaiz to death yesterday, September 8. According to Pervaiz’s version, reported by the lawyer Malook, “Khokher wanted to persuade him to convert to Islam and when he did not consent, he falsely accused him of blasphemy”.
According to Malook, “this is another case in which the law is being used unfairly against religious minorities”. In Pakistan, the “Blasphemy Law” (articles 295 “b” and “c” of the “Pakistan Penal Code”) provides for life imprisonment or the death penalty for the crime of insulting the Prophet Mohammed, Islam, or the Koran.