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Pakistan: death for insulting Islam
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John Henry
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Jul 14, 2007 11:06 PDT
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CHRISTIAN IN PAKISTAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
June 1, 2007
By Munir Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A Christian was sentenced to death for
allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammed, and a human rights activist
Friday urged Pakistan's president to spare his life.
Younis Masih, 29, was arrested in September 2005 on the outskirts of the
eastern city of Lahore after residents told police he made derogatory
remarks against Islam and Muhammad.
On Wednesday, a court sentenced Masih to death under Pakistan's harsh
blasphemy laws, which rights groups say have been misused against
Christians since former President Gen. Zia ul-Haq enacted them in 1980s
to win the support of hard-line religious groups.
Shahbaz Bhatti, who heads the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance- which
groups together Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Parsis, who follow
Zoroastrianism - said only President Gen. Pervez Musharraf could pardon
Masih.
"I met with Younis Masih at a jail in Lahore, and he told me that he
respects Islam and its prophet," Bhatti said, adding Masih told him
that dozens of Muslims thrashed him on Sept. 10, 2005, when he asked them
not to sing loudly because his nephew had died, and his body was still
lying at home.
"It was Younis Masih's only mistake," Bhatti said, adding that
a group of Muslims began beating him and handed him over to police, which
registered a case against him under blasphemy laws.
He said rights groups have been demanding the repeal of blasphemy laws,
saying they were being abused by religious extremists to settle personal
scores and religious enmity.
He said the legal battle against Masih's conviction will continue, but
"it will take years, and during this period, Younis Masih's fate
would continue to hang in the balance."
Pakistan is an Islamic state where non-Muslims comprise just 3 percent of
the 160 million population. Anyone accused of insulting Islam, Muhammed
or the Quran can be sentenced to death.
Source:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070601/D8PG3I901.html
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"Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and
them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
body." (Hebrews 13:3)
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against
you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great
is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were
before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)
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