Search Results for: blasphemy law

Pakistani authorities initiated a rigorous investigation to identify and arrest members of a mob that killed a tourist accused of blasphemy in the Swat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local media on Friday. Regional Police Chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur confirmed that a case has been registered against the organizers of the mob [...]

A Pakistani Christian who was attacked by a mob last month after being accused of blasphemy has succumbed to his injuries, local media reported Monday. Nazir Masih, 72, sustained severe head injuries during the May 25 attack and underwent two surgeries before his death. He was buried in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province.  [...]

Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on events in that country impacting its legal system. Abu Bakar Khan is a final year law student at University Law College, University of the Punjab. He files this dispatch from Lahore.  Lahore hosted the 5th Asma Jahangir Conference, titled ‘People’s Mandate: Safeguarding Civil [...]

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) published a joint statement with the Royal Malaysian Police on Tuesday stating that the government has required online media platforms such as TikTok and Meta to tighten their harmful content policy. In the statement, the MCMC stressed that they are working with other government departments and enforcement agencies [...]

What makes someone qualified to rule? One way to answer this question might be to approach it from the Islamic perspective, that is, by considering the criteria required for someone to become a mujāthid, a person accepted as an authority in Islamic law. The criteria include knowledge of the Shārīe‘ā essential objectives – ‘religion, life, [...]

This week in Scotland, a hate crime law that ranks among the world’s strictest entered into force. The Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021 (Hate Crime Act) aims to modernize and consolidate protections while broadening the scope of recognized hate crimes to encompass a wider range of individuals and circumstances. In other words, the [...]

Scotland’s controversial Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force on Monday. The law intends to unite existing hate crime laws, along with creating several new offenses, most notably criminalizing “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred.” Stirring up racial hatred has been an offense since 1986. However, [...]

The Associated Press (AP) reported that a Pakistani court sentenced a 22-year-old student to death and gave a teenager life in prison on Monday under the country’s blasphemy laws. The 22-year-old student’s lawyer, Aslam Gujar, told the AP that Junaid Munir had been sentenced to death last week. The charges come as a result of [...]

Two filmmakers of a film banned in Malaysia were charged on Wednesday with “hurting religious feelings” due to the contents of their film. Nine human rights organizations have condemned the criminal charges as breaches of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The film, Mentega Terbang, debuted at a film festival in 2021. It [...]

Pakistan rejected Monday its designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the United States State Department over religious freedom concerns in the South Asian country. The US State Department designated Pakistan as a CPC on January 4 following a recommendation from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The Pakistan Ministry of [...]