In Pakistan on Thursday, a court in Rawalpindi sentenced a 70-year old British man, Muhammad Asghar, to death for blasphemy. According to DAWN, the court also imposed a fine of $9500 (US). Asghar was arrested in 2010 after he wrote letters to various people, including the police, claiming that he is a prophet. The prosecutor said that Asghar made the same claim inside the courtroom. According to BBC News, Asghar is a British Pakistani from Edinburgh who came back to Pakistan to look after his family's property. The complaint against him under Sec. 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code was filed by a tenant who had been served with an eviction notice by Asghar. Before returning to Pakistan, Asghar had been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, but a medical panel appointed by the court in Pakistan rejected the claim of mental illness.
The death sentence is unlikely to be carried out since Pakistan has had a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 2008. Asghar's lawyer says his conviction will be appealed, and the British foreign office plans to raise its concerns with the Pakistani government. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
