Pakistan changes blasphemy laws, increases likelihood of death penalty

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“I think everyone acknowledges that they are misused. They are used as a weapon to settle disputes, not only to attack Christians but to attack Muslims, to attack Hindus, to attack people of other faiths.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Global Dispatch
By Brandon Jones | December 12, 2013

Pakistan’s Sharia Court (FSC) decided to take a hard line on the blasphemy law, reports MNN.

A decision took life imprisonment off of the table leaving only the death penalty as punishment for many case.

“There is a strong base of radical Islamic support of the laws, so even the government authorities who have talked on repealing the law or they’ve talked about modifying the law has always been met with a very stiff wall of opposition from those radical Muslims within the country,” said Todd Nettleton, spokesperson for The Voice of the Martyrs USA.

The laws are widely criticized for loose interpretation and the rampant abuse, Nettleton adds. “I think everyone acknowledges that they are misused. They are used as a weapon to settle disputes, not only to attack Christians but to attack Muslims, to attack Hindus, to attack people of other faiths.”

Politicians who have spoken out about reforming these rules, tightening interpretation or stopping abuse have been assassinated.

Nettleton says, one of the suggested changes was, “If you filed false charges, you yourself would be punished.” It was roundly refused. Given that, he goes on to say, “It’s hard to imagine that there will come a point that a majority of Pakistanis would vote to change these laws or to take them off the books.”


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