Zafar Bhatti’s life term was converted into a death sentence in Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court granted bail to another Christian accused of blasphemy.
by Marco Respinti
Yet another Christian had been sentenced to death in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy. Zafar Bhatti, 56, was in jail since 2012, accused of having sent text messages offensive to Islam.
In 2017, Bhatti was sentenced to life in jail (which in Pakistan in fact corresponds to a 25-year term). When his lawyer tried to obtain bail and argue against the conviction, Judge Sahibzada Naqeeb of the Rawalpindi Court on January 3 took the opportunity for converting the life sentence into the death penalty. The judge argued that the new text of Section 295-C of Pakistan blasphemy laws now only includes death penalty as punishment.
Bitter Winter has been told that within the local Christian community itself there is some criticism of Bhatti’s lawyer, who should have taken his case to the Supreme Court rather than seeking bail or contesting the conviction before the Rawalpindi Court.
In general, blasphemy is regarded as a non-bailable offence, as is the case in Pakistani law for those punished with the death penalty. However, courts have occasionally bailed suspects of blasphemy. The Supreme Court never did it, but on January 6, just three days after Bhatti’s conviction, it issued a historical decision granting bail to Nadeem Samson, a Christian accusing of having posted blasphemous anti-Islamic content on Facebook.
The legal rationale for granting bail to Samson, who was accused of a non-bailable capital offence, was a Pakistani procedural norm that allows for bailing suspects of capital crimes when the trial has not been concluded within two years and the suspect’s defense was not responsible for the delay. The Supreme Court found that Samson had been in jail for four years, and the defense had not adopted any dilatory tactic and in fact had insisted for an early trial date.
Samson is now free, although not finally acquitted of the charge, while Bhatti remains in jail, destined to execution unless the Supreme Court intervenes. Poor lawyering may have a responsibility in Bhatti’s case. However, this does not excuse the Pakistani authorities who maintain in their laws the death penalty for blasphemy, nor the biased judges that in cases of blasphemy easily accept trumped up charges.
Once again, the international community should intervene, and tell Pakistan that Bhatti’s execution would not be tolerated.
Marco Respinti is an Italian professional journalist, member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), author, translator, and lecturer. He has contributed and contributes to several journals and magazines both in print and online, both in Italy and abroad. Author of books and chapter in books, he has translated and/or edited works by, among others, Edmund Burke, Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Russell Kirk, J.R.R. Tolkien, Régine Pernoud and Gustave Thibon. A Senior fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal (a non-partisan, non-profit U.S. educational organization based in Mecosta, Michigan), he is also a founding member as well as a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for European Renewal (a non-profit, non-partisan pan-European educational organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands). A member of the Advisory Council of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief, in December 2022, the Universal Peace Federation bestowed on him, among others, the title of Ambassador of Peace. From February 2018 to December 2022, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of International Family News. He serves as Director-in-Charge of the academic publication The Journal of CESNUR and Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights.
