Pakistani Man Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

I never knew Pakistan has a death penalty for blasphemy. But it doesn't surprise me the least. Reuters

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani man was sentenced to death for blasphemy on Wednesday after he defiled the Muslim holy book and used derogatory language to refer to the Prophet Mohammad, a police official said.

Convictions for blasphemy are fairly common in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, with most cases involving members of religious minorities, but death sentences have never been carried out usually because convictions are thrown out on a lack of evidence.

The convicted man, Mohammad Shafeeq, a Muslim in his early 20s, was arrested in 2006 in a village near the eastern city of Sialkot where the trial was held in the court of Justice Shoaib Ahmad Roomi.