Gender: Male

Perpetrator: Pakistan

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Shi'a

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Sentence: Death

Date of Detainment: April//2016

Date of Sentencing: June/10/2017

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Discussing Religion & Religious Texts Online Activity

Nature of Charges: Blasphemy Hate Speech Terrorism

Taimoor Raza

Extra Bio Info:

Taimoor Raza is imprisoned and sentenced to death for blasphemy.

In April 2016, authorities arrested Raza after he was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, his wives, and other religious figures on Facebook.  There are reports that the comments were made during a debate about Islam online that a counter-terrorism official had been a part of. There are conflicting reports about Raza's charges.  According to the Guardian citing Raza's defense attorney, Raza was originally charged with "using derogatory remarks in respect of holy personages" (Sec. 298-A PPC) but  later charged with "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC). According to Dawn, a case was registered against Raza, accusing him "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC), "intending or likely to stir up sectarian hatred" (Sec. 9 Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997), and "printing, publishing, or disseminating any material to incite hatred or giving projection to any person convicted for a terrorist act or any proscribed organization or an organization placed under observation or anyone concerned in terrorism" (Sec. 11W Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997).

On June 10, 2017, an anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur, Punjab, sentenced Raza to death.

Sources: