PAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE FOR BLASPHEMY

January 30, 2012: A ‘blasphemy’ accused was sentenced to death and also to 10 years’ imprisonment in Pakistan.
Soofi Mohammad Ishaq of Talagang town had been facing the charge since 2009.
An Additional Sessions Judge of Jhelum sentenced him to death and 10 years’ imprisonment and fined him Rs200,000.
Soofi Mohammad Ishaq was settled in United States where he worked as a cleric. He returned to Talagang in 2009 and was given a warm welcome by hundreds of his followers. Later, Ishaq’s rivals launched a campaign against him and a young man named Asadullah, allegedly at the behest of his Deobandi mentors, lodged a complaint at the Talagang police station. He accused Ishaq of committing blasphemy.
Police booked Ishaq under sections 295A and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code and his case was heard by Chakwal’s Additional Sessions Judge Sajid Awan.
“My client pleaded to the court that he cannot even think of committing blasphemy.” Advocate Chaudhry Akhtar Mehmood said. (Sources: AP, 01/02/2012)