Man gets 25 years jail, Rs 1 lakh fine for blasphemy in Pak

A Pakistani man was today sentenced to 25 years rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 1 lakh by a court here for committing blasphemy.
The sessions court in Lahore heard statements from witnesses and lawyers' claims and found Zulfiqar guilty of blasphemy and sentenced him to 25 years rigorous punishment, Dawn reported.
The court also imposed a fine of 100,000 Pakistani rupees on Zulfiqar and ordered to seize all his movable and immovable assets. A case in this regard was registered against him by Race Course police station in 2006.
Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan and can carry the death penalty.

Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws have been criticised by rights groups, who say they are frequently misused to settle personal scores.
In 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minorities, were shot dead in separate attacks after advocating changes to the blasphemy law.