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 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Florida on Sunday ahead of a pivotal meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, amid growing Israeli concern that Washington may push forward with Phase II of the Gaza agreement without securing Israel’s core security demands.
Israel has officially deployed its Iron Beam laser-based air defense system in operational field use, marking a historic breakthrough in modern warfare, the Defense Ministry announced Sunday. The system has now transitioned from development and testing into active service with the Israel Defense Forces, becoming the world’s first high-power laser interception platform to reach full operational status.
A knife attack outside Suriname’s capital Paramaribo killed at least nine people, including five children, police said Sunday, in one of the deadliest violent incidents in the small country’s recent history.
One person was killed and another critically injured Sunday after two helicopters collided midair in southern New Jersey, U.S. authorities said, adding to heightened concern over aviation safety following an earlier deadly air disaster near the nation’s capital.
Christians in Indonesia’s West Java were weighing their options Sunday after Muslims reportedly formed a human wall to block members of a Protestant church from reaching their Christmas worship service, in an incident that has underscored concerns about religious extremism in the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is holding talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Florida residence, as part of renewed efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. The discussions come just hours after Moscow issued a fresh warning over the possible deployment of European peacekeepers.
Authorities in Japan continued an investigation Sunday after confirming that at least two people were killed and 26 were injured in a massive multi-vehicle crash on a snow-covered expressway, as millions began traveling for the year-end and New Year holidays.