Pakistani court convicts student to death and another to life in jail for defaming prophet of Islam

The court in Pakistan has ruled to sentence a 22-year-old student to death and a teenager to life in prison for blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad of Islam.This happened in two different cases, according to a lawyer and officials on Monday.

Both said they didn’t do it and can ask for a new trial.

Aslam Gujar, who is a lawyer, said that the judge in Gujranwala, Punjab, gave a death penalty to his client, Junaid Munir, last week. The trial started because in 2022 Munir was accused of sharing disrespectful content on WhatsApp.

Last week, a 17-year-old boy named Abdul Hanan was found guilty and given a life sentence in another case at the same court. This information comes from the court documents. Hanan’s lawyer and family were not ready to give a comment right away.

Munir’s dad, Munir Hussain, said his son is innocent and he will appeal the charge because it’s not true.

Hussain said over the phone that he and his family are hiding and living secretly.

“I can’t tell you where I am because people in my village think I should also be killed because my son insulted Islam’s prophet,” he said. “We follow the religion of Islam. ” We really like our prophet. “He said that his son is innocent and no Muslim would ever insult our prophet. ”

In Pakistan, if someone is found to have insulted the religion or religious figures, they can be put to death. While the government hasn’t executed anyone for saying disrespectful things about god, just accusing someone of it can cause violent protests.

Domestic and global groups that protect people’s rights say accusations of insulting religion are often used to frighten religious people who are not in the majority and to solve personal problems. In August 2023, some Muslims in Jaranwala, a city in eastern Punjab, attacked churches and homes of Christians because they believed a Christian man had disrespected the Quran, their holy book. The angry group destroyed the man’s house, set fire to churches, and damaged many other homes. The government and rights groups criticized their actions.

In December 2021, many people went to a sports equipment factory in Sialkot and killed a man from Sri Lanka. They burned his body in public because they thought he had disrespected their religion.