SHEIKHUPURA - District and sessions court Sheikhupura has awarded death sentence to three Ahmadis on blasphemy charges.
Sheikhupura Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Javed Akram while announcing the judgment said that the three Ahmadis who hailed from Bhalwal had committed blasphemy through pamphlets and banners they had displayed outside their worship place.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 200,000 each to the three convicts and in case of non-payment of fine they will have to spend another six months in jail term.
A shopkeeper Raza Hussain had lodged a complaint with Sharakpur police station against these three convicts.
Mubasher Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmed and Ehsan Ahmed were convicted by the court on Wednesday under the country's strict blasphemy laws, Ahmadi community spokesperson Saleemuddin told Al Jazeera.
The three men were arrested in May 2014 after they tore down religious posters in Bhalwal, a village about 22km southwest of Lahore.
Khalil Ahmed, a fourth accused, was shot and killed in police custody just days after the incident took place.
While the accused claimed the posters carried anti-Ahmadi slogans, the prosecution said they carried religious significance and that tearing them down was tantamount to insulting the prophet.
Saleemuddin said that the Ahmadi community would challenge the trial court's decision in the high court.
Since 1984, when the blasphemy laws were amended to include several Ahmadi-specific clauses, more than 250 Ahmadis have been killed, according to data collected by the community.
Online/Monitoring Desk