Pakistani Christian Couple Sentenced To Death For Sending Blasphemous Text Messages

A Christian couple working at a Christian school in Pakistan were arrested for sending text messages deemed blasphemous against the prophet Mohammed and now have been sentenced to death...oh and they have to pay a fine before they die, too.

So that's how it is, huh, Muslims of Pakistan?  A text message that says "Jesus Saves" or something like that means death?  Is your prophet a little pussy that has to be "protected" by you insignificant dweebs?  One day, my friends....one day the trumpet will blast.

The story comes from DAWN.

Couple sentenced to death for blasphemy



TOBA TEK SINGH: A local court sentenced on Friday a Christian couple to death for blasphemy and fined them Rs100,000 each.

Shafqat Maseeh, watchman of Gojra’s Saint Cathedral School, and his wife Shagufta Maseeh were arrested on July 25 last year under Section 295C on the charge of sending blasphemous text messages to the complainants, shopkeeper Malik Mohammad Hussain and Gojra tehsil bar’s former president Anwar Mansoor Goraya.

The verdict was announced by additional district and sessions judge Amer Habib.

The case was heard in the district jail.

The couple confessed to have sent the messages.

Pakistani Christian gets death in blasphemy case

Speak ill of the prophet Mohammed and you are put to death - at least in Pakistan.  Hmm...wasn't there some talk about "anti-blasphemy" laws here in America, as well?

The story comes from Times of India.

Pakistani Christian gets death in blasphemy case


LAHORE: A court convicted a Pakistani Christian man and sentenced him to death Thursday in a blasphemy case that sparked a riot last year in the eastern city of Lahore, according to his lawyer.

Naeem Shakir, the lawyer for Sawan Masih, said a judge announced the verdict during a hearing at the jail where the trial has been held out of fears that Masih might be attacked on his way to court. Shakir said he would appeal.

Although Pakistan has never executed anybody under the law, crowds angered over blasphemy accusations have been known to take the law into their own hands and kill those they suspect of violating it. Once an accusation is made it is extremely difficult to reverse, in part because law enforcement personnel do not want to appear to be going easy on suspects.

Such vigilantism has created a climate of fear, forcing frightened judges into holding court sessions inside jails and keeping witnesses from coming to the defense of those on trial.

Many human rights activists say the blasphemy law, which allows for punishment of life in prison or death, is misused as a way to target people for personal gain or revenge.

The incident that led to Thursday's conviction began March 7 last year when a young Muslim man accused Masih of maligning the Prophet Muhammad. Police arrested Masih, but the next day a mob ransacked the neighborhood where he and other Christians live, setting fire to homes and destroying household possessions.

Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight ahead of the riots. Many in the neighborhood have since moved back, and their homes have been rebuilt.

The police arrested 83 suspects following the rampage, including the man who brought the complaint against Masih, said a Lahore police official, Rana Taseer Riaz. But so far none of the suspects have been convicted and all were released on bail, he said.

Pakistan's blasphemy law has existed since even before the country's 1947 founding. During the 1980s, the U.S.-backed military dictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, amended it to add the death penalty and single out Islam as the religion that may not be insulted, among other changes.