Another Pakistani Christian Receives
Life Sentence for ‘Blasphemy’
Washington , D.C. (March 1, 2010)–International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Pakistani court sentenced a Christian man to life imprisonment for making ‘blasphemous’ remarks about the Qur’an and Mohammad.
The Pakistani daily newspaper Dawn reported that the court also fined Qamar David with a penalty of 101,000 Pakistani Rupees ($1187) on February 25.
David was arrested in 2006 for allegedly spreading the blasphemous messages using his cell phone.
He is the second Christian to be sentenced to life in prison for allegations of blasphemy in the last two months. On January 11, a court in Pakistan sentenced Imran Masih to life imprisonment after his Muslim neighbor falsely accused him of burning the Qur’an. (See: /suffering/pressdetail.php?presscode=376)
Desecrating the Qur’an and blaspheming the name of Mohammad is punishable by life imprisonment and death sentence respectively according sections 295 (B) and 295 (C) of Pakistan ’s penal code. Muslims in Pakistan use the blasphemy law to persecute Christians and other religious minorities. The blasphemy allegation itself is enough to incite Muslims to riot against Christians. On July 31, 2009, Muslim mob burned down two churches and 80 Christian homes in the Pakistani village of Korian following false allegation that Christians had desecrated the Qur’an. The next day, the mob killed 11 Christians in Gojra.
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said “David’s case is another example of using Pakistan ’s blasphemy law for persecuting Christians. We urge Pakistani officials to release David and change the law that is being abused by Muslims to oppose Christians.”
Please call the Pakistani Embassy in your country and politely ask the officials of Pakistan to release David and change the blasphemy law.
Pakistani Embassies:
USA : (202) 243-6500
Canada : (613) 238-7881
UK : 0870-005-6967
