A Pakistani Pastor, Zafar Bhatti, 58, has been sentenced to death by the district court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan for blasphemy.
According to the reports,Bhatti who was accused of sending blasphemous SMS text messages has been in prison since 2012. On May 3, 2017 he was sentenced to life imprisonment under Articles 295 (a) and 295 (c) of the Penal Code of Pakistan for dishonouring the Prophet Muhammad and his mother.
Pastor Zafar before his arrest in 2012, ran a house church and also founded the charity organization Jesus World Mission which was established to assist the poor.
He was arrested for blasphemy following a complaint which was filed against him by an anonymous person.
It was gathered that after investigating the mobile phone number, it was revealed that the number used to send the text messages was not registered in his name. The service provider stated further that the sim card was registered with a Muslim named in person of Ghazala Khan.
Ghazala was tried in April 2013 and granted bail.
Zafar Bhatti, however denied the charges against him from the onset.
He is currently the longest-serving prisoner for blasphemy and the first to receive a death sentence, upheld by the court on January 3.
Ilyas Samuel, a Christian human rights activist, showing Fides his dismay at the unjustified death sentence of Zafar Bhatti, said: “It is sad to hear this news.
“I am sorry that the misuse of blasphemy laws has become so common that it is exercised as a tool of revenge against innocent people”.
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