Pakistani Shia Sentenced To Death For Blasphemy On Facebook 

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced a man to death for allegedly committing blasphemy on Facebook.

A court in Bahawalpur in Punjab province of Pakistan handed out the verdict, the harshest yet for such a crime, after finding Taimoor Raza, 30, guilty of insulting the prophet Muhammad. Raza had indulged in a debate about Islam last year with a man who later turned out to be a counter-terrorism agent. Soon after the sectarian debate, Raza was arrested.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Raza, who belongs to Pakistan's minority Shia Muslim community, was one among 15 people arrested by the counter-terrorism department last year, accused of blasphemy. "My brother indulged in a sectarian debate on Facebook with a person, who we later come to know, was a (counter-terrorism department) official with the name of Muhammad Usman," Waseem Abbas, Raza's brother,said.

To battle the blasphemy, Pakistani authorities have asked Twitter and Facebook to help identify users sharing blasphemous content. The government has also circulated text messages encouraging citizens to report fellow citizens sharing blasphemous content. However, human rights defenders have expressed concern and opine that the stringent blasphemy laws are used as a tool to carry out personal vendettas. "The casual manner in which death sentences are handed in blasphemy cases coupled with the lack of orientation of Pakistani courts with technology makes this a very dangerous situation," said Saroop Ijaz, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch in Pakistan. Also, the sentence was handed down by an anti-terrorism court and not a regular court, sowing the confusion between national security and religion.