Two men were sentenced to death by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday for “proliferating blasphemous content” online.

According to a first information report (FIR) registered by the Federal Investigation Agency in 2021 — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — one of the convicts was arrested in Islamabad for creating and disseminating “blasphemous contents … in respect of the Holy Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him]” to a WhatsApp group.

Two warrants of the commitment of conviction to the Adiala Jail superintendent were issued today for the two convicts by Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka.

They said the two were sentenced to death by hanging for violating Section 295C (Use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet [PBUH]) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

“[The] convict shall be hanged by his neck till he is dead subject to confirmation of death punishment by honourable Islamabad High Court,” both warrants read. The judge noted that both convicts had the right to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court within 30 days.

They were also sentenced to life in prison under 295B (defiling, etc, of the Holy Quran) with a fine of Rs100,000; three years imprisonment under 298A (use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of holy personages) with a fine of Rs500,000 and seven years of “rigorous imprisonment” for violating Section 11 (hate speech) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) with a fine of Rs100,000.

The warrants said the sentences would run concurrently except those for non-payment of fines.

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

A court in Rawalpindi sentenced four men to death on Monday for posting blasphemous content online, a prosecution lawyer told AFP.

“They were sentenced to death … on Friday for spreading blasphemous content online against the Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) and the Quran,” Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, told AFP.

“Our case was supported by forensic evidence from the devices used in this heinous act,” he added.

The four were charged under sections 295A, 295B, 295C, 298A of the PPC and Section 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act in October 2022, according to a first information report seen by Dawn.com.

The country has witnessed a sharp increase in the prosecution of “online blasphemy” cases, with private vigilante groups bringing charges against hundreds of young individuals for allegedly committing blasphemy.