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Three members of the persecuted Ahmadiyya community have been sentenced to death in Pakistan's Punjab province for committing ‘blasphemy’ by tearing up posters that demanded boycott of the minority sect.
They have also been fined Rs 2,00,000 each, and should they fail to pay the fine, they will be subjected to six months of rigorous punishment. Additional District and Sessions Judge of Sheikhupura district of Punjab province Mian Javed Akram announced the verdict on 11 October after the prosecution submitted evidence and presented all witnesses in the case.
According to Sharqpur police station official Muhammad Ashar, the people had displayed posters in the village urging social boycott of the Ahmadiyya community. He said, "The posters carried Islamic verses." On removing the posters, a complaint was filed against the three men that led to their subsequent arrest.
Their counsel will challenge the verdict in the higher court. On Wednesday, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in- law Mohammad Safdar launched a tirade against the Ahmaddiya community, demanding their exclusion from the government and military services.
This measure was later followed with former President General Zia-ul-Haq, making it a punishable offence for Ahmadiyyas to call themselves Muslim or to refer to their faith as Islam. The community is also banned from preaching as well as from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. They are also not allowed to publish any material propagating their faith.
Members of the community in Pakistan have often been targeted.
Also Read: Pakistan’s Medieval Blasphemy Laws in Desperate Need of Overhaul
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