On Saturday, June 10, 2017, a Pakistani journalism student was sentenced to the death penalty after posting defamatory statements about the Prophet Muhammad, regarding his multiple wives and his followers.

Taimoor Raza was listening to blasphemous content on Facebook while at a bus station in Bahawalpur and was immediately arrested by a counter-terrorism officer, who took his cellphone. After searching through the cellphone’s history, the officer found that Mr. Raza had also contributed and posted derogatory statements via social media.

“Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a capital crime for which dozens are sitting on death row. Even mere accusations are enough to spark mass uproar and mob justice” (“Pakistan: Death Penalty For Blasphemy on Facebook”). In Pakistan, religion is a crucial part of government. While some see Raza’s remark as freedom as speech, it is obviously not viewed as such by the Pakistani administration.

As previously hinted at, blasphemy cases as such are predominant in Pakistan. “In January, the government shut down the websites and blogs of four online activists who regularly campaigned for humans rights and religious freedom, according to Human Rights Watch, right after they were went missing simultaneously’ (Safi and Wescott).

Further, in April, a student called Mashal Khan was killed after debating over the topic of religion within the confines of his dormitory, which have only enforced the blasphemy laws.

During the court case, the defendant’s lawyer claimed that her client was not guilty and that he was being portrayed as a scapegoat by two individuals (Safi and Wescott).