LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Thursday overturned the death sentence of a Christian couple in a blasphemy case, acquitting them for lack of evidence after they had spent seven years on death row, lawyers said.
A lower court had sentenced Shafqat Emmanuel, a watchman at a factory, and his wife, Shagufta Kausar, to death in 2014 for allegedly sending derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a text message to another man, Khalid Maqsood.
The couple's lawyer, Saif-ul-Malook, told Reuters the Lahore High Court had acquitted the couple in the case in the central town of Toba Tek Singh.
A detailed order from the court was expected in the next two days, he said.
Prosecution lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry told Reuters that the prosecution would employ all available remedies against the decision.
Insulting the Prophet (PBUH) carries a mandatory death penalty in the predominantly Muslim country. Pakistan's blasphemy laws have long been criticized by global rights groups.
"Today’s decision puts an end to the seven-year long ordeal of a couple who should not have been convicted nor faced a death sentence in the first place," Amnesty International's South Asia Deputy Director Dinushika Dissanayake said in a statement, calling on authorities to provide security to the couple and their lawyer.
The acquitted couple was named in an EU Parliament resolution passed in April that called for stripping the trade exemptions given by the bloc to Pakistan's exports, saying the country had failed to stem rising blasphemy accusations.
Pakistan is often hit by vigilante violence against people accused of blasphemy. Last month, a mob broke into the police station on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad in a bid to lynch two men accused of desecrating a mosque.
Pakistan court overturns blasphemy conviction of Christian couple
https://arab.news/jv6uf
Pakistan court overturns blasphemy conviction of Christian couple
- The acquitted couple was named in an EU Parliament resolution passed in April that called for stripping the trade exemptions given by the bloc to Pakistan
- Amnesty International hails the verdict, says the couple 'should not have been convicted nor faced a death sentence in the first place'
Security forces kill 11 militants in separate operations in Pakistan’s northwest
- Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan
- Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban frequently target convoys of security forces, police and government officials
ISLAMABAD: Security forces gunned down 11 Pakistani Taliban militants in separate operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Saturday, amid a surge in militancy in the South Asian country.
The first intelligence-based operation was conducted in North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan, during which six militants were killed, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Another joint intelligence-based operation by police and security forces was conducted in the Kurram district, which led to the killing of five other Pakistani Taliban militants in a fire exchange.
“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed Indian-sponsored khwarij (militants), who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharja (militant) found in the area.”
There was no immediate comment by New Delhi to the Pakistani military statement.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years. Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have frequently targeted convoys of security forces, police stations and check-posts besides kidnapping government officials in the region.
Last year, the South Asian country saw 73 percent increase in combat-related deaths, with both security forces and militants suffering casualties in large numbers.
As per statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387, compared with 1,950 in 2024. These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees (combatants), the think tank said in a press release.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
