On Sunday, a Pakistani counter-terrorism court sentenced a man to death for posting blasphemous content on Facebook. It is the first time someone has ever been sentenced to death for their social media content.
Insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a capital offence in Pakistan and has been the focus of a government crackdown, led by prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has described blasphemy as an "unpardonable offence".
Taimoor Raza, 30, has been sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the Prophet, his wives and companions.
Shafiq Qureshi, public prosecutor in Bahawalpur, told Reuters that Raza was arrested at a bus stop after playing blasphemous material on his phone. A counter-terrorism officer arrested him on site, using the material found on Raza's phone to ensure a conviction. Raza's rap sheet already included counter-terrorism offences linked to hate speech, warranting his trial to be heard before a counter-terrorism court.
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Pakistan's blasphemy laws have their origins in 19th century British colonial law in India. When Pakistan came into existence after the Partition of India in 1947, it inherited these rules. These were then expanded upon in 1980 and 1986 under the military government of General Zia-ul Haq.
The original laws created by the British criminalised various acts, including disturbing a religious assembly, insulting religious beliefs or intentionally destroying or disturbing a place or object of religious significance. In 1980, making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages was also made a criminal offence. Clauses and additions were added to these rules, and in 1986, it became a criminal offence to blaspheme against the Prophet Mohammed, with the penalty being "death, or imprisonment for life".
Since 1987, the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) has accounted for a total of 633 Muslims, 494 Ahmedis, 187 Christians and 21 Hindus who have been accused under various clauses of the blasphemy law.
Taimoor Raza can appeal his case at the High Court and Superior Court. If these appeals fail, he will be the first man to be executed for blasphemy via a Facebook post.
"An anti terrorism court of Bahawalpur has awarded him the death sentence," Qureshi told Reuters." It is the first ever death sentence in a case that involves social media."
Facebook has previously been banned in Pakistan after cases of reported blasphemy. A public rally in Islamabad in March called for the government to take action against social media sites spreading this content, and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court has previously asked the government to “take some steps... to eliminate the evil, even at the cost of blocking the entirety [of] social media.”
In the past few months, Facebook has been working to comply with Pakistan's blasphemy laws. In March, it agreed to send a team to Pakistan to discuss content restrictions. This was reported to have worked to block 85 per cent of blasphemous content running through Facebook.
In response to the latest court ruling, a spokesperson for Facebook told WIRED: “We are deeply saddened and concerned by the death sentence served in Pakistan for a Facebook post. Facebook uses powerful systems to keep people's information secure and tools to keep their accounts safe, and we do not provide any government with direct access to people's data. We will continue to protect our community from unnecessary or overreaching government intervention.”
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
