British 'Prophet' Sentenced To Death In Pakistan
Muhammad Asghar wrote letters claiming to be a prophet of Islam, but his lawyers argue he has mental health problems.
Muhammad Asghar, who is from Edinburgh but of Pakistani origin, was arrested in 2010 in Rawalpindi for writing letters to a lawyer and politician claiming to be a prophet.
He did not post the letters, but an angry tenant who he was trying to evict took them to police, the law firm representing Asghar said.
The special court inside the Rawalpindi's Adiala prison rejected the defence that the 68-year-old has mental health problems.
He has previously been detained under the Mental Health Act in the United Kingdom and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Javed Gul, a government prosecutor, said: "Asghar claimed to be a prophet even inside the court. He confessed it in front of the judge. Asghar used to write it even on his visiting card."
He said a medical board examined Asghar but said they "declared him as a normal person". Mr Gul added: "Asghar failed to produce even a single witness in his favour."
The firm representing Asghar said it was not there for the ruling because the judge had stopped it from representing him since October.
It claimed a state counsel was appointed to Asghar, who did not raise his medical history or call supporting witnesses. The firm asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by extremists.
The court also ordered Asghar to pay a fine of one million Pakistani rupees (£6,000) at the hearing on Thursday.
Pakistan's tough blasphemy laws have been criticised by rights groups, who say they are abused in order to settle personal feuds.
Charges are hard to fight because the law does not define what is blasphemous and presenting evidence can in itself sometimes be considered a further offence.
The issue is highly sensitive in a country where 97% of the population is Muslim.
Allegations can provoke a violent public response and in several cases mobs have attacked mentally ill people who have made allegedly blasphemous claims.
A moratorium on the hanging of civilians has been in force since 2008. The only execution since then has been of a soldier convicted by court martial.
In 2006, a Briton sentenced to death had his punishment commuted by then president Pervez Musharraf.
Mirza-Tahir Hussain was due to be hanged for murdering a taxi driver, but was spared after appeals from former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prince Charles.
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