UPDATED 06/14/17: After committing so-called blasphemy on Facebook, a man has been sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. Taimoor Raza was found guilty of "insulting" the prophet Muhammad during a Facebook debate with a man later revealed as a counter-terrorism agent, the Guardianreported Sunday.
After an argument about Islam on Facebook in 2016, Raza—one of 15 people arrested by counter-terrorism officials in the region last year—was taken in by authorities. Waseem Abbas, Raza's brother, said their family was a part of the Shia Muslims community in Pakistan. According to the Guardian, Raza is the first to receive a death sentence for social media-based "blasphemy." Raza's attorney said his client had been charged under two "unrelated sections" of the law in an effort to make sure he got the maximum penalty.
Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws have been criticized for potentially enabling the abuse of religious minorities. In December of last year, Amnesty International Director of Global Issues Audrey Gaughran pointed to "overwhelming evidence" that the laws violate human rights and encourage others to act violently. "Once a person is accused, they become ensnared in a system that offers them few protections, presumes them guilty, and fails to safeguard them against people willing to use violence," Gaughran said.
Pakistan's Supreme Court, as noted in Amnesty International's 2016 report "As Good as Dead: The Impact of the Blasphemy Laws" in Pakistan, previously agreed that the majority of blasphemy cases stem from accusations that aren't even true. "They favor the complainant, by allowing false accusations, and endanger the accused, by presuming their guilt," Gaughran said.
In a statement to Complex, a Facebook spokesperson said the company was "deeply saddened" by the death sentence:
We are deeply saddened and concerned by the death sentence served in Pakistan for a Facebook post. Facebook uses powerful systems to keep people's information secure and tools to keep their accounts safe, and we do not provide any government with direct access to people's data. We will continue to protect our community from unnecessary or overreaching government intervention
