In Pakistan, it is illegal to make derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad or desecrate the Quran.
Anyone accused is usually arrested and jailed, sometimes for years, before their case is overturned or sentence reduced by the appeal courts.
Such is the strength of feeling about blasphemy that the mere rumour of an allegation is enough to set the neighbourhood or village against the accused, increasingly with fatal consequences. In some instances, it is not just the accused, but their entire community who are held responsible and threatened. [Al Jazeera English] Read more
