DDHK News, Pakistan - A court in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi has sentenced a 70-year-old British man to death on charges of insulting Islam.
Muhammad Asghar was arrested in 2010 after writing letters to several people claiming to be a prophet, according to reports.
His lawyers pleaded that their client was insane with a history of mental illness but this defense was rejected by a panel of local health experts.
Asghar, originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, allegedly wrote a letter to local police officers claiming to be a prophet. This British citizen is thought to have lived in Pakistan for several years.
“Asghar claimed to be a prophet even in court. He confessed in front of the jury, ”said Javed Gul, a prosecutor, as quoted Indonesian BBC from the news agency AFP.
However, according to his attorney, Saba Eitizaz, the client was tried without a lawyer. Eitizaz admitted that he was prohibited from defending Asghar and that the proceedings were held behind closed doors.
His lawyer said he would appeal the verdict which was handed down late on Thursday (23/1/2014). This is because it often occurs at the appeal level that decisions on blasphemy cases are canceled because they are deemed insufficient evidence.
Paranoid suffering
Asghar was diagnosed with schizophrenia paranoid and underwent treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh. However, evidence from the treatment at the British hospital was not accepted by the court, media reports.
As a result, he has been sentenced to imprisonment since being detained in 2010 where according to his lawyer he attempted suicide once.
According to analysts in the local media, Asghar is unlikely to actually be sentenced to death as a result of this case because Pakistan is undergoing an informal moratorium on the death penalty since 2008.
He has also been ordered to pay a large amount of compensation by the court.
Under Pakistani law, a defendant can be sentenced to death if found guilty of defaming Islam. There have been several cases which have attracted international attention regarding the application of this law. (bbc.co.uk). *
