A Christian man charged with blasphemy for making a theological argument on Facebook that Muslims deemed insulting toward the Islamic prophet Muhammad is now facing a potential death sentence for the post.
A Christian man sentenced to death has been acquitted by a Pakistani court six years after he was charged with blaspheming the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Men say their prayers during Eid al-Fitr at the Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. | REUTERS/Mohsin Raza
A United States citizen whose brother is facing the possibility of being sentenced to death in Pakistan on trumped-up blasphemy charges is asking the Biden administration to put pressure on Pakistan to release his brother.
In three months, 47-year-old Pakistani Christian man Nadeem Samson will go before Pakistan’s Lahore High Court as he petitions against blasphemy charges that stem from and were cemented by a false accusation, corrupt police, and his own confession under torture, his brother, Shakeel Anjum, told The Christian Post.
Men say their prayers during Eid al-Fitr at the Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. | REUTERS/Mohsin Raza
Three young Christians in northeastern Pakistan have been charged with blasphemy after area Muslims alleged that pages of the Quran had been burned near some Christian homes to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims, according to a report.
Police charged the three Christians, identified as Azeem Mehmood, Abbas Gulshan, and Irfan Saleem, from a village named Kotli Muhammad Sadique in Punjab Province’s Narowal district, on Dec. 30, the U.K.-based group Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement, known as CLAAS, learned recently.
Religious liberty is necessary for a good and free people, but it is currently under siege around the world. There are more than a few contenders for the dishonorable crown of the nation most hostile to freedom of conscience. China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Pakistan, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria, Myanmar (Burma), Iraq, Tajikistan, Iran, and Nigeria are in the running. Each oppresses people of faith in one or more ways. Some of the contenders suppress belief in anything sacred other than the current rulers. Several systems kill or tolerate the killing of believers of various minority faiths.
The vast majority of persecutors are either Muslim‐majority states or authoritarian regimes. Some of America’s close allies, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rank among the worst offenders as they have become increasingly repressive despite adopting welcome social reforms. So do important U.S. rivals, most notably the People’s Republic of China, which has been regressing back tow