LAHORE, PakistanFebruary 19, 2024 (Christian Day by day Worldwide–Morning Star Information)
A decide has sentenced a Christian man to life in jail beneath Pakistan's blasphemy legal guidelines for a social media message that kin say was posted utilizing a telephone that was stolen from him, sources stated.
Fanson Shahid, 56, was crushed in his Lahore residence when he was arrested and tortured to admit in March 2022 after being accused of posting a derogatory comment in regards to the Prophet of Islam in a touch upon a submit shared by one other Christian, his spouse. he stated.
The telephone the Fb remark was on was stolen from him in 2019, she stated.
Decide Zafar Yab Chadhar of Gujranwala district for the following session of Punjab province handed down the sentence on January 24, however the household has not made it public till now.
“We prayed for Shahid's acquittal as a result of he’s harmless, however the verdict shattered our hopes for justice,” his sister Sonia Shahid advised Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information.
Investigators found that Fanson Shahid's Fb account was logged into a brand new telephone they obtained in 2022 and introduced this as proof that he made the remark. His spouse Safia Shahid stated on the time: “We consider the misplaced telephone was misused by somebody to submit a blasphemous remark as my husband didn’t use a passcode for his safety and his Fb account was additionally logged in.
Fanson Shahid was convicted beneath Part 295-C of Pakistan's blasphemy legal guidelines, which requires the obligatory dying penalty for making derogatory feedback about Muhammad, however Chadhar cited as a “mitigating issue” that the remark was printed “solely as soon as”.
“If there’s a single doubt or floor which raises an affordable doubt within the thoughts of the court docket/decide for awarding even dying sentence or life imprisonment, it will be adequate circumstance to undertake the choice course of awarding life imprisonment as an alternative of dying sentence,” Chadhar wrote within the judgment.
Fanson additionally fined Shahid 100,000 rupees ($358). Shahid was additionally convicted beneath Part 295-A, which prohibits hurting non secular sentiments, and sentenced to 3 years in jail.
He was additionally convicted beneath Part 153-A, which prohibits creating disturbance in society, and sentenced to at least one yr in jail and a advantageous of fifty,000 rupees ($179). The decide additionally despatched Shahid to jail for 3 years beneath Part 11 of the Prevention of Digital Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, which prohibits the promotion of non secular hatred on social media.
The sentences are to be served concurrently, the court docket's verdict acknowledged.
Sonia Shahid stated the decision shocked the household and members of Full Gospel Assemblies. Fanson Shahid has two youngsters and his household was pressured to maneuver out of their residence as a consequence of fears for his or her security.
Distinguished Christian lawyer Lazar Allah Rakha stated the decision confirmed that the court docket didn’t contemplate the arguments of the protection with out giving a cause.
“Moreover, there are obvious contradictions within the statements of prosecution witnesses which discredit all of the prosecution's proof,” Rakha advised Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information. “The court docket blindly relied on the prosecution's proof as an alternative of trying on the model of each the prosecution and the defence.”
Rakha stated Shahid was entitled to acquittal as prosecutors had did not show their case past affordable doubt.
Sonia Shahid stated the household was attempting to get help to file an attraction within the Lahore Excessive Courtroom. The attraction have to be filed inside 30 days of the decision, and with lower than every week left to file it, the household nonetheless has to seek out authorized illustration.
Fanson Shahid was working as a buying officer with Pakistan Railways in Lahore and was as a consequence of retire in eight years when he was arrested in 2022 on blasphemy costs.
As within the earlier yr, Pakistan was ranked seventh on the record of essentially the most tough locations for Christianity within the Open Doorways 2024 World Watch Listing.
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Courtesy photograph: Morning Star Information; Fanson Shahid was sentenced to life in jail beneath Pakistan's blasphemy legislation on January 24, 2024. (Christian Day by day Worldwide-Morning Star Information)/MajaMitrovic of Getty Photographs Signaturevia Canva Professional.
