Shared photo: Sentenced to death

Aneeqa Ateeq (26) was found guilty on Wednesday and sentenced to death for cybercrime and blasphemy. It reports among others The Guardian.

The 26-year-old was arrested in May 2020 after a man notified the police that she had sent him caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on the messaging app WhatsApp.

Claims he wanted revenge

Pakistan is an Islamic state and has some of the strictest blasphemy laws in the world, according to The Guardian.

Ateeq, who has stated that she is a practicing Muslim, denied all allegations.

She said during the trial that she believes the whistleblower knowingly and intentionally dragged her into a religious discussion online, so that he could gather evidence and take “revenge”, after she showed little interest in him.

However, the court found her guilty. Ateeq was also sentenced to 20 years in prison, with an order for her to be hanged.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws allow for the death penalty when someone is convicted of religious insults. However, no death sentences for blasphemy have so far been carried out, according to NTB.

Beaten to death

The Electronic Crime Prevention Act (PECA), passed in 2016, gave the Pakistani government greater power to control content posted on social media, including content considered blasphemous.

41 percent of Norwegian Muslims want to punish blasphemy in Norway

Last month, a Sri Lankan national – who worked at a factory in Pakistan – was killed by hundreds of people. His body must have been set on fire afterwards. It happened after he was accused of committing blasphemy by removing religious posters from the factory walls.

Human rights groups believe the blasphemy laws are often used to oppress religious minorities in Pakistan, but Pakistani Muslims have also been accused and convicted of blasphemy, according to NTB.

According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, around 80 people are being held in Pakistan for blasphemy, with at least half sentenced to death, even though there have been no executions.

Previous death sentences for blasphemy have sparked protests in the country.

–