2 persons sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy

Two persons were sentenced to death by a Pakistani court after it found them guilty of blasphemy, a media report today said.
Additional Sessions Judge Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal awarded death sentences to two men found guilty under the controversial blasphemy law.
According to the prosecution, Riaz Ahmed, 34, and Ijaz Ahmed, 38, residents of Haroonabad, devotees of Chaman Sarkar in Gujrat district, had claimed in 2011 that they had seen God.
Qari Muhammad Ahmed, 27, the complainant, a resident of Haroonabad, said that the convicts had also invited other people to join them in their union with God through Chaman Sarkar.

Malik Ghulam Qasim, the defence lawyer, told The Express Tribune that he would continue to fight against a law that could be easily misused to victimise innocent people.
"I tried my best to defend them," Qasim said.
"We seriously need to reconsider the blasphemy law and its enforcement," he said.
Judge Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of them.