Pakistan Upholds Death Sentence for Christian Father
His brother was acquitted on the same evidence; Christian advocates warn the split ruling sets a perilous precedent.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on October 7 upheld the death sentence of Qaiser Ayub, a 49-year-old Christian and father of three, under the country’s blasphemy laws for allegedly publishing blasphemous material online. In the same judgment, the court acquitted his brother Amoon for insufficient evidence — a split result that has shaken Christian advocates.
The case dates to 2011, when allegations arose involving a website registered in Qaiser’s name. Prosecutors charged both brothers. In 2018, they were each sentenced to death. The Lahore High Court upheld those convictions in 2022, sending the matter to the Supreme Court for final review.
On October 7, that review produced two opposite outcomes from what defense lawyers say was essentially the same evidence: Qaiser’s death sentence was confirmed, while Amoon was acquitted.
Defense lawyers and CLAAS called the ruling devastating and underscored the inconsistency of the court’s approach. Qaiser Ayub remains in Sahiwal Jail, where he faces execution. His three children must now live with the confirmed capital sentence hanging over their father.
Advocates warn that the decision raises serious concerns about the use of digital evidence in blasphemy cases and about prosecutions that may follow. International Christian groups have expressed deep concern over religious freedom in Pakistan. Blasphemy laws there carry the death penalty and have long been a source of fear for Christians and other religious minorities, who can find themselves accused, imprisoned, and condemned on charges that are difficult to contest once made.
The years since 2011 have kept Qaiser Ayub under the shadow of capital punishment. With the Supreme Court having spoken, he remains on death row. For Pakistan’s Christian community, already small and vulnerable, the judgment is another heavy blow under laws that can make alleged offenses against religion a matter of life and death.