From a sentence of life imprisonment, a Christian in Pakistan is now facing death penalty after the High Court yielded to the pressure from an Islamist legal group. The Christian was charged of blaspheming Islam's prophet in a text message he sent to a Muslim in 2011.
Sajjad Masih, the convicted 36-year-old Christian and a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Punjab Province, had appealed to the Lahore High Court in 2013. His appeal sat on the bench for the past seven years. In contrast, the same court has swiftly approved an appeal for the criminal code revision filed by the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Forum (KNF, or Movement for the Finality of the Prophethood). The code calls for capital punishment as the sole penalty to violators.
Back in July 2013, Sajjad Masih was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was accused of blasphemy in a text message he sent to a Muslim in December 2011. Masih's lawyer said that there had been huge gaps in his case and that he was also ordered to pay 314,500 rupees (US$2,010). But KNF, apparently, wasn't satisfied, hence their appeal for the revision of the criminal code used to convict Masih.
Sources told Morning Star News that KNF lawyers have resorted to "intimidation tactic" during the hearing. They came in droves and presented themselves in the courtroom so that they could procure a harsher punishment for Masih.
"They told the judge that capital punishment was the only sentence for blaspheming against Islam's prophet, and that Sajjad must be executed without delay," said one of the anonymous sources.
The court's ruling was announced on Twitter by one of the prosecutors which states;
"Honorable Lahore High Court accepts our prosecution argument that 'capital sentence' is the only possible sentence in blasphemy and 'imprisonment for life,' though provided in 295 CPPC and awarded by trial court, is illegal being repugnant to injunctions of Islam!"
The Section 295-C, according to Morning Star News, is part of the controversial blasphemy laws which states that "Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."
The outlet asserted that since KNF was founded 20 years ago, blasphemy cases filed against Christians and other minorities in Punjab Province have jacked up. Among these cases of convictions was Aasiya Noreen's. She had become internationally known as Asia Bibi after her case was highly profiled by Christian groups with the help of conscientious firms like Saif Ul Malook's. Malook is a Muslim lawyer, but mostly works to defend Christians on death row.
"Hundreds of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat lawyers are using their expertise and influence across Punjab voluntarily to ensure that anyone insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad is charged, tried and executed," Saif Ul Malook told Morning Star News.
The lawyer further explained that KNF has "instilled fear in lower and higher courts" with their crowding pressure tactics.
In 2018, a recommendation to also hold those found guilty of making false blasphemy accusations accountable and be given the same punishments as those they have convicted was dismissed by the Pakistani government. This makes Pakistan ranked fifth on Open Doors 2021 World Watch list of the 50 countries where it's dangerous to be a Christian.
