Pakistan: Christian man sentenced to death

Transcript

00:00Let's shift our focus now. Court in Pakistan sentenced a Christian man to death over allegations

00:04of sharing hateful content against Muslims on social media. The verdict follows an incident

00:10in August last year which led to one of the most severe mob attacks on the Christian community

00:15in the eastern Punjab province. The lawyer of the accused has said that this verdict

00:19will be appealed. For some background on what actually transpired and led to this verdict,

00:24in August 2023, mobs of Muslim men set fire to dozens of homes and churches in Punjab

00:29province's Jaranwala city after reports that two Christian men had desecrated the Quran.

00:34Authorities arrested the two men involved but no casualties were reported as most members

00:40of the Christian community fled the area for safety. Although police detained over a hundred

00:44suspects, it remains unclear if any have been convicted. Ehsan Shahan, who was not involved

00:51in the initial incident or alleged desecration, was accused of reposting images of the defaced

00:55Quran pages on his TikTok account. His lawyer has said that he would challenge the court's

01:01extreme verdict, especially given the lack of convictions for those involved in the mob

01:06attacks. A police officer involved in the case also highlighted the fact that Shahan's

01:11actions occurred during a volatile period when authorities were struggling to control

01:16the violence. The verdict has led to questions over why Shahan received such a severe sentence

01:21when the perpetrators of the mob attacks have not been punished. Blasphemy accusations

01:25are common in Pakistan and can result in severe consequences under the country's blasphemy

01:30laws which include the death penalty. This is not an isolated incident. Earlier this

01:35month, 72-year-old Nazir Masih died after being attacked by a mob in May following blasphemy

01:41accusations. In another incident last August, a mob in Faisalabad set several churches on

01:47fire after a Christian family was accused of blasphemy as well. The Christian community

01:51in Pakistan, which makes up about 2% of the country's population, these repeated incidents

01:57have often led to uproar over blasphemy allegations and the violence that ensues.