A persecution watchdog is voicing profound concern about a Pakistani man who was reportedly given the death penalty for blasphemy.
David Curry, CEO of Global Christian Relief, told CBN’s Faithwire, “Pakistan has some of the most difficult and stringent blasphemy laws in the world.”
He described these regulations as “vigilante-type laws” that open the door to false accusations against Christians and other groups, claims that can lead to the death penalty.
“[It] allows anybody to accuse somebody else of blasphemy within the Islamic law,” he said. “And the reason why it’s so problematic is because of the court system and the way these are adjudicated. You have somebody who’s making a claim that, in most cases, can’t be substantiated.”
Beyond that, Curry said the definition of “blasphemy” is overly broad, meaning any offense deemed problematic by the accuser can be brought to the court of law. Being a Christian, alone, can spark problems for some, and false claims are regularly perpetuated.
“Punishment in Pakistan is the death penalty, so there’s no proportionality to a particular situation,” he said. “Anybody can make a charge that can’t be validated.”
As CBN’s Faithwire previously reported, the most recent case involves Noman Masih, 22, who was recently handed the death penalty by a court in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, after being found guilty of blasphemy.
Problems began for Masih on July 1, 2019, when he was reportedly arrested by police, just days after his cousin, Sunny Waqas, was detained on a blasphemy charge. Waqas was later released on bail, though it’s unclear where his case currently stands.
Masih’s father, Asghar Masih, said the allegations against his son are baseless, and that Noman was sleeping when police allege he was showing blasphemous images of Muhammad, the preeminent Islamic prophet, to people at 3:30 a.m. in a local park.
For the rest of this article, visit our content partners at faithwire.com. {eoa}
Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright © 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
