Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - The Lahore court sentenced to death a Christian accused of blasphemy in 2017. On July 4, 2022, at Lahore in the province of Punjab, Session Court sentenced to death by hanging Ashfaq Masih, now 34 years old. Ashfaq Masih, a mechanic by profession, has been in prison since June 2017 after a complaint (First Information Report) was filed against him on June 15, pursuant to art. 295 "c" of the Pakistani Penal Code, which punishes the contempt against the Prophet Mohammed. Ashfaq Masih, married and father of an 8-year-old daughter, claims that he did not defame or utter contemptuous words against the Prophet Muhammad. In his statement Ashfaq Masih said: "I am innocent, the case against me is baseless, false, and frivolous and framed against me just to destroy my business. My business was running well, and I was very happy but Muhammad Naveed, who is also a motorcycle mechanic and had started a shop in front of me, was jealous because my business was doing well and had a good reputation in the area. We had already fought a few days before the incident".
On June 15, I had an argument with Muhammad Irfan who refused to pay me 40 Pakistani rupees after getting his bicycle repaired, claiming that he was a Sufi believer, therefore he did not have to pay". Ashfaq Masih continued: "I do not follow anyone other than Jesus and asked to be paid. Instead of paying for the work done, Muhammad Irfan together with Muhammad Naveed turned the matter into a religious...
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