Yahoo News (www.yahoo.com) reports that a Pakistani man was sentenced to death by hanging... for saying that he was Christ and that Islam is a fake religion.

The verdict against Anwar Keneth, 40, a former government official, drew criticism from the nation's Christian Liberation Front, which lobbies for the interests of the small Christian community.

Keneth was arrested a year ago in the eastern city of Lahore of violating Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws after he addressed a letter to a local imam and others stating that he was Christ and Islam was a fake religion.

Keneth has been jailed since his arrest. He confessed to the charges on July 8, according to court documents. Minorities in Pakistan have been demanding the repeal of blasphemy laws, under which scores of people are arrested every year

Under Pakistani law, only the word of a Muslim accuser is needed to prosecute a non-Muslim on blasphemy charges, which can carry the death penalty upon conviction.

Yahoo News also reports the story of an Iranian man, convicted of raping and killing his nephew that will be executed by being thrown off a cliff in a sack (!).

If the unnamed man survives the fall down a rocky precipice, he will be hanged, legal experts said. He has 20 days to appeal the court sentence.

Under Iran's Islamic law, applied since the 1979 revolution, pederasty, homosexuality and adultery are among a long list of crimes punishable by death.

These are both verdicts handed down by the official judiciary systems of Pakistan and Iran.

Sometimes I wonder if there's a time gap between the United States, with its freedoms and respect for due process and Democracy, and the Arab/Muslim world with its barbaric "legal" practices which seems stuck in the 12th century.

I copy both articles below.

Court sentences Christian to death for committing blasphemy
Thu Jul 18, 6:21 AM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020718/
ap_wo_en_po/pakistan_blasphemy_1

LAHORE, Pakistan - A Pakistani Christian who claimed he was Jesus Christ and called Islam a fake religion was convicted of blasphemy on Thursday and sentenced to death by hanging, court officials said.

The verdict against Anwar Keneth, 40, a former government official, drew criticism from the nation's Christian Liberation Front, which lobbies for the interests of the small Christian community.

"We think justice has not been done in the case of Anwar Keneth," Khalid Gill, a leader and spokesman for the group, told The Associated Press. "Keneth should have been treated at a mental hospital."

Keneth was arrested a year ago in the eastern city of Lahore of violating Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws after he addressed a letter to a local imam and others stating that he was Christ and Islam was a fake religion.

Keneth has been jailed since his arrest. He confessed to the charges on July 8, according to court documents.

Minorities in Pakistan have been demanding the repeal of blasphemy laws, under which scores of people are arrested every year.

About 97 percent of Pakistan's 145 million people are Muslim. Christians constitute a small portion of the remaining 3 percent, along with Hindus and Sikhs.

Under Pakistani law, only the word of a Muslim accuser is needed to prosecute a non-Muslim on blasphemy charges, which can carry the death penalty upon conviction.

Killer, Rapist to Be Thrown Off Cliff in Sack
Thu Jul 18,10:44 AM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020718/
od_nm/execution_dc_1

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian man, convicted for raping and killing his 16-year-old nephew, will be executed by being thrown off a cliff in a sack, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

If the unnamed man survives the fall down a rocky precipice, he will be hanged, legal experts said. He has 20 days to appeal the court sentence.

The killer was arrested last year in the northwestern city of Mashhad after "seducing" and killing his nephew, who worked as an assistant at the man's carpenter's workshop, the Norouz daily newspaper said.

Under Iran's Islamic law, applied since the 1979 revolution, pederasty, homosexuality and adultery are among a long list of crimes punishable by death.

Posted by David Melle
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