Christian in Pakistan sentenced to death on “blasphemous texts” charges

Asif Pervaiz, 37, is a Christian from Pakistan that has been sentenced to death for an allegedly incident that took place in 2013.

After seven years in jail for sending “blasphemous texts” to his Muslim supervisor, he was found guilty in Lahore on Tuesday. Now, he is sentenced to death.

Saif-ul-Malook was the lawyer of Christian mother Asia Bibi during her high-profile blasphemy case in 2018. Now he is representing Pervaiz to denfend his case.

According to his point of view, there is no evidence to affirm that Pervaiz committed the crime. Instead, Malook claims that what is happening is kind of revenge against Asif because his supervisor tried to convert him to Islam after Asif quit his job at the factory but it was unsuccessfully attempted.

“The complainant was a supervisor in a hosiery factory where Asif was working under him,” Malook told Al Jazeera.

“He denied the allegations and said that this man was trying to get him to convert to Islam,” Malook added.

Asif affirms that his boss accused him of sending the “blasphemous” texts after he refused to abandon his Christian beliefs to convert to Islam.

Due to the weak evidence against Asif, Malook is set to launch an appeal against the sentencing.

Similar cases happen in Pakistan

Pakistan is a nation governed by a draconian Islamic penal code. There, many believers are arrested for insulting the prophet Muhammad.

Currently, there are around 25 Christian imprisoned on blasphemy charges in that nation.

Political figures also suffer persecution if they oppose the law

The law the the government establishes in relation to religion also includes politicians and all those who try to oppose.

The ones who have tried to defend injustice by speaking in support of reforming the law have suffered intimidation and even assassination.

Such is the case of Salman Taseer, the former governor of Punjab. He was killed by his own security guard in 2011 for openly supporting a repeal of the blasphemy laws following Asia Bibi’s conviction.

Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was also victim of this terrible act of violence. He was shot dead due to his voiced support for Bibi and opposition to the laws.

In relation to the latest case, International Christian Concern’s (ICC) Regional Manager, William Stark, said, ICC was “saddened by the court’s decision to sentence Asif Pervaiz to death under the blasphemy laws” and concerned that the death sentence was made with “reportedly no evidence being presented to support the blasphemy allegation against Asif”.

Stark added: “The abuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws must be curbed and false allegations must be rooted out and punished. Too often these laws have been a tool in the hands of extremists seeking to stir up religiously motivated violence against minority communities.”

“Without real reform, religious minorities, including Christians, will face more false blasphemy accusations and the extreme violence that often accompanies these accusations.”

Source: Premier.Christian News