lahore, PakistanFebruary 19, 2024 (christian daily international–morning star news)
A judge sentenced a Christian to life in prison under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws for social media messages his relatives said were posted using a stolen cellphone, officials said.
Fanson Shahid, 56, was assaulted at his home in Lahore. arrested According to his wife, in March 2022, he was accused of posting derogatory remarks about Islam’s prophet in the comments of a post shared by another Christian, and was tortured into confessing.
She said the phone on which the Facebook comments were posted was stolen from him in 2019.
Judge Zafar Yav Chadar of Punjab’s Gujranwala District Additional Sessions Court handed down the verdict on January 24, but the family said it had not been made public until now.
“We prayed for his acquittal because Shahid is innocent, but the verdict dashed our hopes for justice,” his sister Sonia Shahid told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. .
Investigators found Fanson Shahid’s Facebook account logged on to a new mobile phone recovered in 2022, which they presented as evidence of the suspect’s comments. Her wife, Safia Shahid, said at the time, “Her husband did not use a passcode for security and was logged into his Facebook account, so someone could misuse the phone and desecrate it.” I believe that the comment was posted.”
Fanson Shahid was found guilty under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty for derogatory comments against Muhammad, but Chadar said the comment was posted “only once”. This was cited as “mitigating circumstances”.
“If a single suspicion or basis creates reasonable doubt in the mind of a court or judge and imposes a death penalty or life sentence, then it is sufficient to adopt the alternative policy of sentencing the death penalty to life imprisonment.” “It will be a difficult situation,” Chadar said. he wrote in the judgment.
He also fined Fanson Shahid 100,000 rupees (US$358). Mr. Shahid was also convicted under Article 295-A, which prohibits hurting religious sentiments, and sentenced to three years in prison.
He was also convicted under Article 153-A, which prohibits causing communal riots, and sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 rupees (US$179). The judge also sentenced Shahid to three years in prison under Section 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, which prohibits promoting religious hatred on social media.
According to the court’s verdict, the sentences will be served concurrently.
Sonia Shahid said the verdict shocked her family and members of Full Gospel Assemblies Church. Fanson Shahid has two children and his family has been forced to move from their home due to safety concerns.
Prominent Christian lawyer Lazar Allah Raqa said the ruling showed that the court ignored the defense’s arguments without giving reasons.
“Furthermore, there are obvious contradictions in the statements of prosecution witnesses, which discredit the entire prosecution evidence,” Raka told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “The court blindly relied on the prosecution’s evidence without considering the opinions of both the prosecution and the defense.”
Mr Raka said Mr Shahid was entitled to an acquittal as prosecutors had failed to prove their case beyond any doubt.
Sonia Shahid said her family was scrambling for help to appeal to the Lahore High Court. Appeals must be filed within 30 days of the verdict, and with less than a week to go, the families have yet to find legal representation.
Fanson Shahid was working as a purchasing agent for Pakistan Railways in Lahore and was planning to retire after eight years when he was arrested on blasphemy charges in 2022.
Pakistan ranks seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List as the most difficult region to be a Christian, as it did last year.
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Photo provided: Morning Star News; Fanson Shahid was sentenced to life in prison on January 24, 2024 under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)/Maya Mitrovic from Getty Images signatureVia Canva Pro.
