Sajjad Masih Gill is a marked man.  After years of being tortured* and unjustly imprisoned on false charges that he blasphemed the name of the Prophet Mohammed, the  Lahore High Court on March 10, 2021, ruled to change Sajjad's sentence from life imprisonment to death.

There was no pretense of equity or justice. The prosecuting attorney Zeeshan Ahmed Awan, boasted on Facebook that, "Capital Sentence is the only possible Sentence in Blasphemy and Imprisonment for Life though provided in 295 C PPC, awarded by Trial Court is illegal being repugnant to injunctions of Islam"!

 

 His nightmare began in 2011.  "Imagine being hung upside down by your feet. Electric wires are tied around your ankles and you are threatened repeatedly with electrocution. In addition, you are frequently pulled from your prison cell so that the police can beat you viciously."** 

For two long years, Judge Aalia Neelum refused to hear the case. In 2013, he was sentenced to life in prison and fined 200,000 Pak-Rupees ($2,000), even though his accuser retracted his allegation and the prosecuting attorney could offer no tangible evidence of an alleged crime. Throughout this ordeal, Sajjad maintained his innocence.

He and his family, members of Pakistan's Seventh-day Adventist Christian Community, have suffered the fiery wrath of this accusation: ostracism, harassment, threats, violence, loss of property, livelihood, and for Sajjad death!  

In 2016,  His appeal to the  Lahore High Court was denied; and his two attorneys: Aric John and his assistant were ambushed by a group of armed militants en route to the court appointment, who threatened to attack them and their families but they persevered and continued their noble struggle.

Today, Sajjad is on death row.

The Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan are destroying the very fabric of this nation. It has opened a floodgate of accusations and convictions against innocent victims. People use this as a weapon to settle personal scores and  Christians and other minorities that represent only 2% of the population are deemed the most vulnerable.

Lovers of Liberty and Defenders of International Civil, Religious, and Human Rights, I make a fervent appeal to you to help free Sajjad Masih Gill and end Pakistan's oppressive Blasphemy Laws.

Stand with me against this great injustice! "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to keep silent."

"But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" Amos 5:24

_______

*Leslie, Dwayne. “Killing Words.” Liberty Magazine November/December 2013, libertymagazine.org/article/killing-words

**Ibid.