PAKISTAN: ISLAMABAD ATC SENTENCES 3 TO DEATH FOR SHARING BLASPHEMOUS CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

January 10, 2021:

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on 8 January 2021 sentenced three men to death for sharing blasphemous content on social media. A fourth accused in the same case was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The ATC also issued perpetual arrest warrants for four accused, absconding in the case.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which had investigated the case, Rana Nouman Rafaqat and Abdul Waheed operated fake profiles and disseminated blasphemous material on social media, while Nasir Ahmad had uploaded blasphemous videos to a Youtube channel. The verdict was announced by Islamabad ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas, who found all three guilty of having committed blasphemy.
A fourth individual, Professor Anwaar Ahmed, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs100,000. He had been arrested for disseminating controversial blasphemous views during a lecture at the Islamabad Model College where he was an Urdu teacher.
All four convicts were initially arrested in 2017 in connection with the blasphemy case. 
The four individuals were indicted by the ATC on 12 September 2017, when they had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. The ATC had also previously dismissed the bail plea of Professor Anwaar Ahmed in the same case.
This is Pakistan's first case in which persons have been convicted for sharing blasphemous content on social media.