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Pakistani Court Sentences 3 Men to Death for Blasphemous Online Content

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced to death
   three men for disseminating anti-Islam content and videos over social
   media.

   The single-judge tribunal in Islamabad found the suspects guilty of
   "inciting hatred and contempt on religious, sectarian or ethnic basis
   to stir up violence," according to a copy of Friday's ruling.

   A fourth defendant accused in the same case, a college professor in the
   Pakistani capital, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on charges he
   used derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad in one of his
   lectures that was later uploaded online.

   All of the convicted defendants have the right to appeal their
   sentences.

   Friday's convictions are not the first time someone in Pakistan has
   been handed the death penalty for allegedly blaspheming on social
   media.

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