Pakistan: Christian condemned for blasphemy

Ranjha Masih has been condemned to life imprisonment and fined 50,000 pakistani rupees (US$ 900) by a court in Faisalabad. The judgment took place roughly five years after his arrest for blasphemy during a procession in May 1998. Ranjha Masih was accused of having thrown stones at a neon sign bearing a verse from the Koran.

The Christians, who number around 3 million in a population of 140 million, have made many protests against the blasphemy law, which punishes everyone who “profanes the name of the holy prophet”. The protests were of no avail. The government went back on its promise to amend the law after Islamic groups had strongly protested.