A Pakistan government crackdown on freedom of speech online has reached worrying new levels, activists say, after a young man was sentenced to death over a series of Facebook posts.
On Saturday, 30-year-old Taimoor Raza became the first person to receive a death sentence in a Pakistan anti-terrorism court for "using derogatory remarks ... in respect of the Holy Prophet" on social media...
Prosecutor Shafique Qureshi told CNN Taimoor Raza was accused of regularly sharing "blasphemous pictures and status updates" on his Facebook page, which criticized the companions of the prophet and the prophet himself...
But Raza's lawyer Fida Hussain Rana said his client was innocent and had been set up on social media.
"Two individuals ... instigated Taimoor on Facebook Chat to get him to say things against the Prophet Muhammad. Taimoor never said anything blasphemous," he said in a statement.