In this case the trial Judge did not apply his judicious mind and convicted the accused in a very casual manner.
A Pakistani court last week sentenced two Christian brothers to death for blasphemy.
Since their arrest in 2014, Qaisar and Amoon Ayub had been held in District Jail Jhelum, in Punjab province, 200 km north of Lahore, for allegedly posting “disrespectful material” on their website, according to AsiaNews.
For security reasons the two were kept in prison for the 13 December announcement of their sentence by Judge Javed Iqbal Bosal of Talagang District Jhelum.
Their story dates back to 2011 when Qaisar, following a quarrel at his office, started to receive death threats and the brothers had to flee the country. They were arrested on charges of blasphemy upon return four years later, as AsiaNews reported at the time.
Qaisar has said he closed his account in 2009 but that a Muslim friend somehow had been able to take the website back online while keeping it in Qaisar’s name, according to AsiaNews.
The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS-UK) that has represented the brothers, said they planned to appeal the sentence, taking it to the Lahore High Court.
“In this case the trial Judge did not apply his judicious mind and convicted the accused in a very casual manner,” the centre said on its website.
“This is a very unfortunate situation,” centre director Nasir Saeed said. “Because of threats from hardliners, lower courts pass their responsibility to the higher court and then it takes years to prove the accused innocent.”
“We have seen this in the recent case of Asia Bibi, who was similarly convicted by the lower court and it took her years to reach to the Supreme Court to get justice,” he said. “I am afraid now Qasir and Amoon will have to wait years to get justice.”
Aasiya Noreen, a Pakistani Christian woman commonly known as Asia Bibi, was acquitted by the country’s highest court in October of a blasphemy charge, which carries the death penalty, though it has never been imposed.
Continue to Pray for Qaisar and Amoon Ayub to get justice as they appeal this case.