Pakistan court sentences 4 men to death for 'online blasphemy'

A Pakistan court has sentenced four men to death for posting blasphemous content online, a member of a group of "vigilante" private lawyers that brought the prosecution said on Monday.

The four men were sentenced in Rawalpindi, the garrison city that neighbours the capital Islamabad, Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP), told AFP.

Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in the prosecution of "online blasphemy" cases, with private groups bringing charges against hundreds of young individuals for allegedly committing blasphemy.

"They were sentenced to death... on Friday for spreading blasphemous content online against the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran," Raheem told AFP on Monday.

"Our case was supported by forensic evidence from the devices used in this heinous act," he said of one of the LCBP's latest prosecutions.

Despite the conviction, Pakistan has never executed anyone for blasphemy.

A member of a support group formed by the families confirmed the sentence to AFP and said the group would challenge the conviction.

"The pattern of arrests and prosecutions in this case is consistent with previous ones," said the support group member, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

"We urge the government to establish a commission to investigate the rise in these cases before these young individuals spend the best years of their lives behind bars."

Many of the online blasphemy cases are being brought to trial by private "vigilante groups" led by lawyers and supported by volunteers who scour the internet for offenders, rights groups and police say.

The LCBP is the most active of those groups in Pakistan.

Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the group's leaders, told AFP in October that "God has chosen them for this noble cause".

A report published by the government-run National Commission for Human Rights in October last year said there were 767 people, mostly young men, in jail awaiting trial over blasphemy allegations.

"In these cases, due process was notably disregarded, with significant procedural violations observed at multiple stages," the report said.

"Arrests were often carried out by private individuals rather than law enforcement."

Cases can drag through the courts for years, although death penalties are often commuted to life in prison on appeal at the Supreme Court.

A special court was formed in September to expedite the dozens of pending cases.