KARACHI, Pakistan — A Christian couple were recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for violating Pakistan’s widely condemned “blasphemy” laws, and another Christian convicted without basis under the same statutes the previous week received the same sentence.
In Kasur, Ruqqiya Bibi and her husband Munir Masih were sentenced March 3 to 25 years in prison under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code for defiling the Quran. They had been arrested by Mustafabad police in December 2008 for touching Islam’s sacred scripture without ritually washing.
Tahir Gul, a lawyer for the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said the matter arose out of a quarrel between Muslim and Christian children and turned into a clash of their parents. On Feb. 25 in Karachi, a court sentenced another Christian, Qamar David, to 25 years in prison and a fine of $1,170 after he was convicted without basis for sending blasphemous text messages in May 2006.
David was convicted under Section 295-A of the blasphemy statues for “injuring religious feelings of any community,” and also under Section 295-C for derogatory remarks against Muhammad.
His lawyer, Pervaiz Aslam Chaudhry, said the conviction was without basis as all 16 witnesses at the trial said that not David but the owner of the cell phone through which they received the blasphemous messages was guilty. The cell phone is owned by a Muslim, Munawar Ahmad.
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