MULTAN, Pakistan — A member of the Shiite Muslim minority group was sentenced to death in Pakistan for sharing blasphemous content about Islam on social media, a government prosecutor said.
Judge Shabbir Ahmed announced the sentence for Taimoor Raza, 30, on Saturday in Bahawalpur in eastern Punjab province, Shafiq Qureshi said. Raza was arrested last year over accusations he posted derogatory content about Sunni Muslim religious leaders and the wives of the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook.
Qureshi said Bahawalpur’s counterterrorism force arrested Raza in April last year after a complaint that he was showing onlookers objectionable material on his cellphone at a bus terminal. He added that Raza had previously posted other blasphemous material on Facebook.
The country has never executed anyone convicted of blasphemy, but the accusation is enough to ignite mob violence or lynching in the deeply conservative country. Rights groups say the blasphemy laws are often used to settle personal scores.