Pakistan court sentences 2 Christians to death for blasphemy

An Anti-Terrorism Court in Pakistan's Punjab province has sentenced two Christian and a Muslim man to death for blasphemy, the media reported on Tuesday citing court officials.

 

"One Muslim and two Christian prisoners were awarded death sentences by the Anti-Terrorism Court following the completion of arguments," Newsweek quoted a court official as saying. 

 

"Christians Anjam Naz and Javed Naz and Muslim Jafar Ali were found guilty in the same blasphemy case," he said, adding that 11 witnesses had recorded statements against the accused.

 

Pakistan has extremely strict laws against blasphemy, and rights campaigners say they are often used to settle personal disputes in a country where 97 percent of the population is Muslim. - IANS