Pakistan's civil society reacted with horror over the decision of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to sentence a man to death for sharing blasphemous content about Islam on social media. On Saturday, ATC Judge Shabir Ahmed announced the sentence for the 30-year-old accused in Bahawalpur. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had arrested the accused, who belongs to the Shia community, last year in Bahawalpur. The sentence is the harshest among cybercrime related penalties handed down so far in the country. Most observers say the decision to award a death sentence on posts on the social media will have far reaching implications for Pakistan's media freedom.

Source: Hindustan Times June 11, 2017 09:56 UTC