A Pakistani court has sentenced a Muslim man to death for allegedly sharing blasphemous contents in a WhatsApp group.
The convict identified as Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, was given the death penalty on Friday, March 24, 2023 under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by a Peshawar court and was also fined Rs 1.2 million ($4300) as well as a prison term of 23 years.
While delivering the sentence, the court gave an order that the accused, a resident of the northwest city of Mardan, has the right to appeal against the conviction order on the highly-sensitive issue of blasphemy in Pakistan.
Zeeshan has been undergoing court proceedings on the same case for almost two years after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province, accused him of posting blasphemous contents in a WhatsApp group.
Saeed had filed an application with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 2021 against Zeeshan for blasphemous content.
In arriving at the verdict, the FIA said it had confiscated Zeeshan’s cell-phone and its forensic examination proved him guilty.
According to the laws of the Muslim country, blasphemy is an extremely sensitive topic where many have been lynched from unverified accusations which can incite mobs and violence, a report from the National Commission of Justice and Peace, a human rights and legal help organisation in Pakistan, which called for Zeeshan’s release in one of his trials.
