Five sentenced to death for posting ‘blasphemous content’ online

Five men one Afghan and four Pakistanis were sentenced on Tuesday in Rawalpindi

By AFP
March 27, 2025
A handcuffed suspect stands behind the bars with a policeman standing outside the jail in this undated image. — AFP/File
A handcuffed suspect stands behind the bars with a policeman standing outside the jail in this undated image. — AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: A court in Rawalpindi has sentenced five men to death for posting “blasphemous content online”, a prosecution lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.

“All five accused were sentenced to death for spreading blasphemous content against the Holy Prophet,” a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, said.

“Separately all were sentenced to life imprisonment for Holy Quran’s desecration and 10 years imprisonment for hurting religious sentiments,” lawyer Rao Abdur Raheem said.

The five men -- one Afghan and four Pakistanis -- were sentenced on Tuesday in Rawalpindi.

The sentences will run concurrently, Raheem said. The convicts have a right to appeal in the upper courts.