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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Two Christians and a Muslim man get death penalty in Pakistan for blasphemy

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Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan.
Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan.
2 Christians and a Muslim man were on Tuesday sentenced to death by a Pakistani anti terrorism court for committing blasphemy.

The Anti-Terrorism Court of Gujranwala district announced the verdict in the case which was pending for the last one year.

ATC Gujranwala Judge Bushra Zaman handed down death penalty to Anjum, Javed Naz (who are both Christians) and Jaffer Ali for committing blasphemy. Naz and Ali have been sentenced to an additional 35 years each.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 5 million on Anjum and Rs 8 million each on Naz and Ali.

Gujranwala city police had arrested Anjum, Naz and Ali a year ago on blasphemy charges.

The judge announced the verdict after prosecution presented all witnesses.

Anjum, a resident of Farid Town, some 80km from Lahore ran a chain of Locus Schools System in Gujranwala. Asif, Anjum's brother, told PTI that his brother never committed any blasphemy.

"Javed Naz was a cousin of Anjum and employed at one of his schools. When Anjum fired Naz on corruption allegations he turned against my brother," he said.

Asif said later Naz started blackmailing Anjum by claiming that he had his voice recorded in which he had made blasphemous remarks.

"When Anjum stopped paying money to Naz, he along with his Muslim friend Ali got a blasphemy case registered against Anjum," he said.

Police during investigation also booked Naz and Ali in the blasphemy case.

"My brother is innocent and we will challenge the ATC verdict in the superior court," Asif said.

Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan. 2 high-profile politicians then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti were murdered in 2011 after calling for reforms to the blasphemy law.

Pakistan's tough blasphemy law has attracted criticism from rights groups, who say they are frequently misused to settle personal scores.

Source: firstpost.com, June 28, 2016

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Location: Pakistan
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