ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A decision by Pakistan’s military ruler not to amend the nation’s blasphemy laws has the nation’s Christian minority fearful they could be tried for blasphemy against Islam and face harsh sentences.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in October, said earlier this year he would amend the nation’s laws against blasphemy so that blasphemy charges could only be filed after a thorough investigation. Minority religious faiths in Pakistan, including Christians and the Ahmadi sect, say the blasphemy laws unfairly targeted them. Those convicted of blasphemy against Islam, a capital crime, face death sentences.
Several Christians have been sentenced to death for violating the blasphemy laws in recent years, according to Ecumenical News International, but those sentences were later overturned. Two Christians who had their sentences overturned, however, were later murdered. But under pressure from hard-line Islamic groups, Musharraf announced May 17 he would not amend the laws.
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