ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani man has been sentenced to death for committing blasphemy on Facebook, lawyers said Saturday, the first conviction on charges arising from social media.
Judge Shabbir Ahmad Awan handed down the verdict in Bahawalpur, around 600 kilometers (372 miles) south of capital Islamabad, finding Taimoor Raza guilty of insulting the prophet Mohammed, prosecutor Shafiq Qureshi told AFP.
Raza had a Facebook argument about Islam with someone who turned out to be a counter-terrorism department official, defense lawyer Rana Fida Hussain told AFP.
The official brought charges against Raza based on the comments made on the social networking site.
Hussain said his client was innocent and that he would appeal the conviction.
Blasphemy is a sensitive charge in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can trigger mob lynchings and violence.
A 10-year-old boy was killed and five others were wounded last month when a mob attacked a police station in an attempt to lynch a Hindu man charged with blasphemy for allegedly posting an incendiary image on social media.
Millions of Pakistanis have been receiving text messages from the government warning them against sharing “blasphemous” content online, a move rights activists said would encourage more vigilante attacks.
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Pakistani gets death sentence in Facebook blasphemy case
Pakistani gets death sentence in Facebook blasphemy case
Minister walks out of film festival after accusations of German role in Gaza ‘genocide’
- Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib said the German government “are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel”
BERLIN: A German minister walked out of the awards ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival after a prize-winning director accused Germany of complicity in the “genocide” committed by Israel in Gaza.
Social Democratic Environment Minister Carsten Schneider left the ceremony on Saturday evening because of “unacceptable” remarks, his ministry said.
Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, who picked up a prize for Best First Feature Award with his “Chronicles from the Siege,” said in his speech that the German government “are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this truth.”
Schneider was the only member of the German government attending the ceremony though he was not representing it, his ministry told AFP.
The Ministry of Culture, contacted by AFP to find out the reason for the absence of its minister Wolfram Weimer, did not respond immediately.
A leading member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative party, Alexander Hoffmann, denounced what he said were “repugnant scenes” of “antisemitic” during the ceremony.
“The accusations of genocide, the antisemitic outbursts, and the threats against Germany at the Berlinale are absolutely unacceptable,” Hoffmann, head of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian party allied with Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, told the Bundestag.
The CDU mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner told newspaper Bild that “The open display of hatred toward Israel is in direct contradiction with what this festival represents.”
The backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East led to a tense 76th edition of the festival.
More than 80 film professionals criticized the Berlinale’s “silence” on the war in Gaza in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists “who reject the genocide” they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival after jury president Wim Wenders said cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza.
