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  • Pakistan Court Awards Death Sentence To Christian Woman In Blasphemy Case |

    Islamabad: A court here in Pakistan on Thursday sentenced a Christian woman to death in a blasphemy case.

    A case was filed under Blasphemy laws against Shaughta Karan, accused of sharing derogatory material about the Prophet of Islam in a WhatsApp group in September 2020.

    Judge Afzal Majuka of the Special Court in Islamabad after the trial found her guilty under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries a death sentence.

    The court also imposed a fine of Rs 300,000 on Karan.

    Apart from this, the court also sentenced her to seven years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 under Section 11 of the Pakistan Electronic Crime Act (PECA).

    The judge in a brief order said the convict has the right to file an appeal in a high court within 30 days of the decision.

    Judge Majuka added the execution of the sentence would not take place until the high court approved the decision.

    Karan is the second Christian woman sentenced to death in a case of insulting the Prophet and the religion of Islam.

    Earlier, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, was kept in prison for eight years, but a bench headed by Asif Saeed Khosa, the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court, acquitted her in October 2018.

    After her acquittal, Bibi moved to Canada with her family.

    Blasphemy laws were enacted in the 1980s by former military ruler Ziaul Haq. Those charged with blasphemy are often targeted by the extremists.

    According to the think tank Center for Social Justice (CSJ), nearly 3,000 persons have been accused of blasphemy since 1987.

    At least seven persons accused of blasphemy have been killed by individuals or mobs across Pakistan since January this year, the CSJ said.

    A total of 94 people accused of blasphemy have been killed in mob attacks between 1994 and 2023.

  • Pakistani court acquits Imran Khan in 2022 protest vandalism cases | World News

    Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Monday acquitted jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and other top leaders of his party in two cases related to vandalism during an anti-government protest march in 2022.

    The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on him since his ouster in April 2022.

    The district and sessions court of Islamabad acquitted Khan, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, ex-communication minister Murad Saeed, and other PTI leaders in two cases of vandalism during the ‘Haqeeqi Azaadi’ march, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

    In May 2022, the former cricketer-turned-politician launched a march toward Islamabad from Lahore to topple the coalition government of Shehbaz Sharif that assumed power after he was ousted as the premier following a vote of no confidence.

    The rally was part of the PTI’s struggle to achieve “real freedom” and deliver the nation from the “slavery” of the “US-backed” coalition government. Khan had accused the coalition government of coming to power through a “US-backed conspiracy”.

    The Islamabad police at that time filed separate cases against 150 people, including Khan, Qureshi and other party leaders, over allegations of arson and vandalism in the federal capital.

    Earlier this month, a judicial magistrate of Islamabad also acquitted Khan in two cases of vandalism during his party’s two long marches in 2022.

    Judicial magistrate Shaista Kundi heard the pleas filed by the former prime minister for his acquittal in the cases registered at Islamabad’s Lohi Bhair and Sahala police stations and one related to his production in the court.

  • Baby monkey introduced in as proof escapes, causes chaos in Pakistan courtroom

    By Agence France-Presse: Two males have been intercepted exterior Karachi Thursday attempting to smuggle 14 child monkeys in crates often used to move mangos.

    But once they have been dropped at courtroom on Friday, one of many monkeys escaped — inflicting chaos as workers tried to tempt it down from a tree.

    “The monkeys were kept in the boxes in a bad condition… they could hardly breathe,” stated Javed Mahar, chief of Sindh Wildlife Department.

    The commerce or conserving of untamed animals is prohibited in Pakistan, however legal guidelines are routinely ignored and there’s a vigorous market in unique pets.

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    Monkeys are incessantly saved by road entertainers to draw prospects, and in some circumstances have been skilled by criminals to enter homes to steal.

    The smugglers have been every fined 100,000 rupees (round $350) on Friday and the courtroom ordered the monkeys to be handed over to Karachi Zoo — a step instantly criticised by wildlife officers.

    “The monkeys should have been returned to their natural habitat from where they were captured,” Mahar stated.

    Pakistan’s zoos are infamous for his or her poor services and activists accuse them of disregarding animal welfare.

    In 2020, a courtroom ordered the one zoo within the nation’s capital to shut due to its decrepit state.

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  • Christian youth in Pakistan will get dying sentence for sharing blasphemous content material materials

    By India Today World Desk: A Christian youth was sentenced to dying and slapped with a advantageous of Rs 20,000 by a Pakistani court docket docket on Friday for allegedly committing blasphemy.

    The accused, acknowledged as Nauman Masih, 19, is a resident of Islami Colony Bahawalpur, which is spherical 400 kilometres from Lahore. According to police, he was arrested 4 years prior to now primarily based totally on a criticism that he had shared blasphemous supplies on a messaging app.

    The district and intervals court docket docket of Pakistan’s Bahawalpur metropolis awarded capital punishment to the accused after the prosecution launched proof and witnesses in the direction of him, as per a court docket docket official.

    “The prosecutors presented the forensic record of Maih’s cellphone which proved that he shared the blasphemous content through WhatsApp,” an official said.

    ALSO READ | Pakistan Court orders release of Chinese national arrested on blasphemy charges

    He further added, “Some witnesses were also presented in the court.”

    Blasphemy is a very delicate downside in Pakistan. Even unproven allegations can stir mobs and violence. In many situations, the accused are killed by mobs even sooner than the commencement of licensed proceedings.

    This yr, on May 7, an individual was lynched by a mob after he allegedly made blasphemous remarks all through a rally of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social gathering in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

    Pakistan is among the many many countries the place blasphemy is punishable by dying.

    Earlier on March 24, 2023, a Muslim man in Pakistan was awarded a dying sentence over blasphemous content material materials on a WhatsApp group. He was convicted beneath the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by the court docket docket in Peshawar.

  • Pakistan man will get demise sentence over blasphemous content material on WhatsApp

    The convict, recognized as Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, has the best to attraction in opposition to the courtroom’s conviction order on the highly-sensitive challenge of blasphemy in Pakistan. 

    New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 26, 2023 09:46 IST

    The accused was convicted beneath the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by a Peshawar courtroom. (Representational Image)

    By India Today World Desk: A Muslim man in Pakistan has been awarded a demise sentence over blasphemous content material on a WhatsApp group. He was convicted beneath the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act by the courtroom in Peshawar on Friday. The convict, recognized as Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, has the best to attraction in opposition to the courtroom’s conviction order on the highly-sensitive challenge of blasphemy in Pakistan.

    “Accused Syed Muhammad Zeeshan, son of Syed Zakaullah in custody has been convicted and sentenced after being found guilty”, the courtroom order mentioned, a replica of which was obtained by AFP.

    ALSO READ | Is demise by hanging “humane”? Supreme Court asks authorities to analysis and reply

    Zeeshan, who’s a resident of the northwest metropolis of Mardan, was additionally fined 1.2 million rupees ($4,300) and handed a complete of 23 years imprisonment. His counsel instructed AFP {that a} case was initiated after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province, filed an software with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) two years in the past accusing Zeeshan of posting blasphemous content material on a WhatsApp group.

    “FIA had confiscated Zeeshan’s cell phone and its forensic examination proved him guilty”, he mentioned.

    According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace, a human rights and authorized help group in Pakistan, 774 Muslims and 760 members of assorted minority non secular teams have been accused of blasphemy within the final 20 years.

    ALSO READ | Gujarat man stabs minor lady 34 occasions, will get demise penalty, courtroom calls it ‘rarest of the uncommon case’

    Published On:

    Mar 26, 2023

  • Rapist freed in Pakistan after he marries deaf survivor who gave delivery to his baby

    A Pakistani courtroom has freed a rapist after he married the deaf rape survivor who gave delivery to his baby.

    New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 29, 2022 13:37 IST

    Dawlat Khan was apprehended after his single sufferer gave delivery to a child earlier this 12 months, and a paternity take a look at proved he was the kid’s organic father.

    By India Today Web Desk: A 25-year-old Pakistani man, who was sentenced to jail for all times in May by a decrease courtroom in Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for raping a deaf lady, was freed by a courtroom after he married his sufferer in an out-of-court settlement.

    The settlement was brokered by a council of elders within the northwest of the nation, Dawlat Khan’s lawyer stated Wednesday, in line with AFP.

    The choice angered rights activists, who’ve stated it legitimises sexual violence in opposition to girls in a rustic the place a majority of rape goes unreported.

    ALSO READ | Delhi: Student organisations, activists protest in opposition to minor lady’s rape-murder, demand speedy justice

    “The rapist and the victim are from the same extended family,” Amjad Ali, Khan’s lawyer, informed AFP.

    “Both families have patched up after an agreement was reached with the help of local jirga (traditional council),” he added.

    Khan was apprehended after his single sufferer gave delivery to a child earlier this 12 months, and a paternity take a look at proved he was the kid’s organic father.

    According to the Asma Jahangir Legal Aid Cell — a bunch offering authorized help to susceptible girls — the conviction charge is decrease than three p.c of circumstances that go to trial.

    Few circumstances are reported due to the linked social stigma, whereas inadequacies throughout investigations, low high quality prosecutorial practices, and out-of-court settlements additionally encourage abysmal conviction charges.

    “This is effectively the court’s approval of rape and facilitation of rapists and rape mentality,” Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, a lawyer and human rights activist, stated of the Peshawar courtroom choice.

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    “It is against the basic principles of justice and the law of the land which does not recognise such an arrangement,” she stated.

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated it was “appalled” by the ruling.

    “Rape is a non-compoundable offence that cannot be resolved through a feeble ‘compromise’ marriage,” the group tweeted.

    Published On:

    Dec 29, 2022

  • Pak court docket extends anticipatory bail to PM Shehbaz’s son in cash laundering case

    A Pakistani court docket granted an extension of anticipatory bail to Suleman Shehbaz, the youthful son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in cash laundering and amassing belongings instances on Friday.

    Islamabad,UPDATED: Dec 23, 2022 23:42 IST

    Prime Minister Shehbaz and his elder son Hamza have been acquitted within the cash laundering case.

    By Press Trust of India: A Pakistani court docket right here on Friday granted an extension of anticipatory bail until January 7 to Suleman Shehbaz, the youthful son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in two separate instances of cash laundering and amassing belongings past recognized sources of revenue, media reviews stated.

    The extension granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comes days after Suleman, 40, was given pre-arrest bail on December 13 after he returned to Pakistan earlier this month after remaining in self-exile in London for 4 years, the Dawn newspaper reported “Suleman had filed a petition in the IHC through his counsel for two weeks’ protective bail in a money laundering case registered against him.

    It has been granted till January 7,” the report stated. Suleman is an accused in a cash laundering case registered with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) whereas the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has named him in an assets-beyond-means case.

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    On Friday, Suleman implored the court docket that he and his household had been subjected to political victimisation by implicating them in cast instances, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. On December 13 too, the court docket, after listening to the plea by his lawyer, granted 14-day protecting bail to him, stopping Suleman’s arrest by the FIA.

    Earlier, the IHC had barred FIA from arresting Suleman upon his arrival in Pakistan and ordered him to give up earlier than the authorities by December 13. Suleman had gone overseas in October 2018, after which a case of cash laundering was filed in opposition to him by the FIA. He then continued to reside within the UK in self-imposed exile. The protecting bail granted by the IHC would save him from arrest within the cash laundering case.

    He was accused of absenteeism within the case. In his newest petition, Suleman stated that the prosecution managed to obtain numerous orders, together with an order declaring him a proclaimed offender “by means of misrepresentation and concealment of fabric information. In the petition, he said that he was made a sufferer of false instances by authorities underneath the regime of ousted prime minister Imran Khan.

    Pleading for his innocence, Suleman advised the court docket that he had returned to Pakistan to give up to the method of regulation, the report stated. Apart from Suleman, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his elder son Hamza Sharif have been additionally booked by the FIA for the case of cash laundering price over Rs 16 billion. However, in October, Prime Minister Shehbaz and his elder son Hamza have been acquitted within the cash laundering case.

    ALSO READ | Found a person who I can belief: Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham ties knot for third time

    Published On:

    Dec 23, 2022

  • Pak courtroom dismisses petition to incorporate Quran at school syllabus

    The Sindh High Court dismissed petition that sought to incorporate Quran at school syllabus. The excessive courtroom dismissed the plea on the bottom that religion is a private matter of a person and the courtroom can not intrude.

    Karachi,UPDATED: Dec 16, 2022 21:51 IST

    The Pakistan courtroom stated no adjustments might be made to the schooling syllabus if basic rights are violated. (Image for Representation)

    By Press Trust of India: A high Pakistani courtroom right here on Friday dismissed a petition that sought to make it obligatory the inclusion of the holy Quran with translation within the syllabus of major to varsity stage schooling.

    The Sindh High Court in its verdict dismissed the petition on the grounds that religion is a private matter of a person and the courtroom can not intrude.

    It stated no adjustments might be made to the schooling syllabus if basic rights are violated.

    ALSO READ | Pak courtroom bars arrest of PM Shehbaz Sharif’s son on arrival in cash laundering case

    The High courtroom additionally noticed that the Constitution has created a stability among the many roles of three pillars of energy — Judiciary, Legislature, and Administration.

    The courtroom additionally famous that Article 20 of the Constitution supplies non secular freedom to residents and makes it necessary for the state to not intrude within the non secular issues of people.

    In its verdict, the courtroom additional stated that the Constitution of Pakistan provides a assure to a person to train his basic rights with out the federal government interfering until he breaks a regulation.

    Advocate Imtiaz Ali, who appeared for the petitioner, argued that the holy Quran schooling needs to be made obligatory within the Sindh province as Pakistan was an Islamic state created for Muslims.

    Presently college students in major and secondary ranges are required to review Islamic research as a topic however non-Muslims can go for an optionally available topic.

    ALSO READ | Pakistan: Hindu woman forcibly transformed to Islam despatched to protected dwelling by courtroom after social media outrage

    Published On:

    Dec 16, 2022

  • Pakistani court docket acquits PM, son in cash laundering case

    A Pakistani court docket Wednesday acquitted Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son of corruption and cash laundering prices filed in 2020, a protection lawyer mentioned.

    Sharif and his son Hamza, the previous chief minister of Punjab province, had been charged throughout the administration of former prime minister Imran Khan.

    They had been accused of laundering thousands and thousands of {dollars} in rupees.

    The case in Special Court in Lahore was “totally baseless and politically motivated,” mentioned Sharif’s legal professional Amjad Pervez.

    The prosecutor was not instantly obtainable for remark.

    The Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore filed corruption and cash laundering prices in opposition to Sharif and his two sons, Hamza and Suleman, in November 2020.

    Suleman has not been tried since transferring to London after the costs had been filed.

    The FIA accused the three males of laundering 16.3 billion rupees (practically $200 million) between 2008 and 2018.

    In Pakistan, members of successive governments have focused political opponents by submitting authorized circumstances in opposition to them, apparently to maintain them entangled in court docket proceedings and away from the political enviornment.

    Sharif, the brother of disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was elected prime minister by Pakistan’s parliament earlier this yr, following per week of political turmoil that led to Khan’s ouster.

  • Pakistan court docket extends Imran Khan’s bail on terrorism costs

    A Pakistani court docket on Monday prolonged former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s pre-arrest bail for eight extra days on terrorism costs referring to a speech by which he allegedly threatened police and judicial officers, his lawyer stated.

    Khan, who appeared in court docket in particular person, was booked within the case by police in August. This is the fourth time he has secured pre-arrest bail within the matter.

    “Bail is extended till 20th September with the same sureties,” Khan’s lawyer, Babar Awan, advised Reuters.

    Khan has denied he threatened the officers, saying his phrases have been taken out of context.

    “This amounts to making a mockery of the anti-terrorism law; making a mockery of our country,” he advised journalists exterior the court docket on Monday after he secured his bail.

    The terrorism case is one in every of a spate of authorized woes for Khan, who was ousted as prime minister by a parliamentary vote in April.

    The court docket stated final week it might indict Khan in a contempt of court docket case in coming days in a matter that poses a menace to his future because it may see him disqualified from politics for no less than 5 years.

    Khan, who nonetheless enjoys widespread assist, has been holding political gatherings throughout the nation to stress the federal government into holding snap elections. Officially, normal elections usually are not due till November subsequent 12 months.

    The authorities says the polls will happen on time and has rejected Khan’s name for early elections.

    It is at one in every of these rallies that Khan thundered in opposition to police and judicial officers. He has additionally focused the highest brass of the nation’s navy, which issued a uncommon direct public rebuke of Khan for his statements earlier this month.