Only death sentence for insulting Muhammad in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan — In Pakistan, compliance with an order that only the death sentence can be given to those convicted of insulting Islam’s prophet will further endanger Christians and increase the powers of the Islamic court that issued it, critics said.

While Christians fear that government compliance with the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) Dec. 4, 2013, order to remove life imprisonment as a punishment for insulting Muhammad could usher in a new era of persecution, some critics said the greater concern is that it could broaden the powers of the controversial court.

While the ruling could further encourage extremists to attack those they believe are insulting Muhammad, the FSC order may have little specific legal impact since judges have tended to issue death penalty sentences for such convictions anyway, according to Yasser Latif Hamdani, who practices law in superior courts.

“The problem is that the order has symbolic significance,” Hamdani said. “It opens the door for the FSC to exercise greater influence on the legal system.”