RAWALPINDI:
A court in Rawalpindi on Tuesday awarded death penalty to five accused, along with life imprisonment and a cumulative sum of Rs6.5 million in fines in a blasphemy case registered against them by the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Additional District and Sessions Judge Tariq Ayub pronounced the verdict in the court, which was packed with lawyers and a large number of people. The court declared that the five criminals, Muhammad Arsalan, Ali Abbas, Faisal Rehan, Khurram Afzal and Zunair Sikandar, had been sentenced to death.
The additional district and sessions judge ruled that the convicts had committed a heinous crime and that they did not deserve any concession. After the verdict, the convicts were shifted to the Adiala Jail amid tight security.
Separately, police in Lahore told AFP on Tuesday that YouTube star, Rajab Butt, was charged with blasphemy for naming his perfume brand after the law section of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that is related to blasphemy.
In a recent promotional video, since deleted from his social media accounts, Butt launched his perfume, whose name referred to the blasphemy legislation in the penal code. The perfume publicity sparked ire, prompting the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to file a complaint late on Monday.
“Our religious sentiments have been hurt,” TLP leader Haider Ali Shah Gillani said. “There are numerous sections in the penal code but why did he choose blasphemy-related sections to name a perfume? This means you acknowledge the offence and are celebrating it,” he added.
Butt issued an apology video on Sunday, asserting that he was not against the blasphemy laws. “I apologise for the words I uttered during the launch of the perfume,” he said. “I apologise and announce the discontinuation of this perfume,” he added.
A police charge sheet seen by AFP and authenticated by a police official on Tuesday details the accusations against Butt, including blasphemy and cybercrime. In other legal troubles, Butt pleaded guilty in January to owning an undocumented wild animal. However, he avoided the jail term.
(WITH INPUT FROM AFP)
