A young Christian man was sentenced to death for blasphemy on March 27, over an allegation that triggered Muslim riots in Joseph Colony in 2013 that left hundreds of Christians homeless.
Sawan Masih (26), a father of three, was convicted under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which refers to defiling the name of Muhammad.
Consequently, rioters targeted his home and also broke into the properties of other Christian families, looting their goods before setting the houses on fire. A total of 178 houses, 75 shops and at least two churches were destroyed, leaving hundreds of Christians homeless and with nothing. Bibles were also burnt.
Sawan has denied committing blasphemy and argued that the allegation was motivated by a property dispute between him and his friend. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are notoriously used to settle personal scores.
CLAAS, a Pakistani Christian legal organisation supported by Barnabas Fund, is handling Sawan’s case. They are appealing against the verdict. CLAAS said there was pressure on the court to issue the death penalty, adding: ‘We were expecting and praying for the release of Sawan Masih as he is innocent, and it is published in the national and international newspapers that this false case was registered against Sawan Masih because the Muslim extremists wanted to grab Christian property.’
Nobody has been judicially executed for blasphemy in Pakistan, but 52 people implicated in blasphemy cases have been killed by vigilantes, even though some of them were declared innocent. And those convicted often spend years languishing in jail waiting for their appeal.
In December, the country’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC), which has the power to decide whether any of the country’s laws are ‘repugnant to the injunctions of Islam’, ruled that the option of life imprisonment for blasphemy should be removed, leaving only the death penalty.
The case against 133 people suspected of arson in the Joseph Colony attacks is still pending in the anti-terrorism courts.
