Pakistan's Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence for Christian in Blasphemy Case
The American Center for Law and Justice filed a review petition to overturn a historic and troubling ruling against Qaisar Ayub.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the conviction and death sentence by hanging of Christian Qaisar Ayub under the country's blasphemy laws. The ruling, announced on October 7, marks the first time in Pakistani history that the nation's highest court has sustained a capital sentence in a blasphemy case. Qaisar and his younger brother, Amoon Ayub, were arrested in 2014 and 2015 after being accused of creating a WordPress blog containing material deemed insulting to Prophet Muhammad. Both men were sentenced to death in 2018, and those convictions were upheld by the Lahore High Court in 2022.
While the court acquitted Amoon of all charges and relocated him to a secure safe house, Qaisar's conviction remained in place. Through its Pakistani affiliate, the Organization for Legal Aid, the American Center for Law and Justice represented the brothers during their Supreme Court appeals. , which empowers the Supreme Court to review its own decisions through a larger judicial panel.
