By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) – A Christian man sentenced to death for blasphemy against Islam in the eastern Pakistani town of Jaranwala will appeal the verdict, Worthy News learned Easter Monday.
The 36-year Pervaiz, also known as Kodu Masih, was convicted on Good Friday, April 18, after he allegedly desecrated the Koran, deemed a holy book by Muslims, said Tahir Bashir, a Christian lawyer involved in the case.
“I did his case in the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in the city of Faisalabad [which sentenced him to death],” Bashir told Worthy News. “I have filed an appeal in the High Court against the verdict of ATC Faisalabad,” he added.
“This verdict is yet another chapter in the ongoing persecution faced by the followers of Jesus Christ,” in Pakistan, a mainly Muslim nation, Bashir stressed.
He also received a fine of roughly $12,500 in local currency, sources said.
The ATC acquitted the other two accused, Daud William Masih and Shahid Aftab, also known as Boby Masih, giving them “the benefit of the doubt,” Christian trial observers noted. “The Christian community is going through a difficult time,” explained lawyer Bashir, who recently survived an assassination attempt
“Yet, I find solace in the thought that just as the heavy stone was rolled away from the tomb of Jesus Christ, so too will the heavy stones of injustice and persecution be lifted from the lives of people like Pervaiz,” he stressed.
ATTACKING CHRISTIANS
The claims of blasphemy, which the convicted Christian man denies, fueled attacks on a Christian neighborhood of Jaranwala in 2023 in which numerous houses and churches were torched and thousands of people forced to flee their homes.
Pakistan ranks 8th on the annual World Watch List of 50 nations, where advocacy group Open Doors says Christians face the most persecution for their faith in Christ.
Blasphemy against Islam is punishable by death in Pakistan, and several people, including Christians, have been languishing for years on death row.
While no one has been executed yet by the state, several suspects have been lynched to death by outraged mobs, often before they could face a court.
In the southern city of Karachi on Friday, a mob of hundreds of people beat an Ahmadi owner of a car workshop to death with bricks and sticks, Worthy News reported earlier. The victim, Laeeq Cheema, 46, was reportedly filming supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party “when the mob started beating him and killed him,” police announced.
TLP is known as a far-right Islamist political party known for its violent protests against any changes to the blasphemy law in Pakistan or those deemed dangerous to its teachings, including even some Muslims.
Ahmadis are a minority group that has faced attacks in Pakistan on accusations of being heretical and involved in blasphemy by hardline Muslims.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it carried out an airstrike in the Zaita area of southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah operative involved in drone operations and terror activity along Israel’s northern border.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with Danish officials next week amid renewed insistence from President Donald Trump that the United States must acquire Greenland to protect American national security interests in the Arctic.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 7 proposed raising U.S. military spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027, a dramatic increase he said is necessary to secure the nation amid what he described as “very troubled and dangerous times.”
U.S. President Donald J. Trump faced an unprecedented rebuke from the Republican-controlled Senate late Thursday after lawmakers advanced a war powers resolution aimed at limiting his authority to conduct military operations in or against Venezuela without congressional approval.
Thousands of Iranians poured into the streets and shouted from rooftops across Tehran and other cities Thursday night following a call for mass demonstrations by exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, marking a significant escalation in nationwide unrest gripping the Islamic Republic. Witnesses reported widespread chanting and street rallies as authorities abruptly shut down internet access and disrupted phone lines shortly after protests began.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for another three years.
President Donald Trump said Thursday afternoon that the federal government will buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to bring down interest rates and monthly payments.