A Pakistani man was fatally shot while in court accused of the crime of blasphemy, which is punishable by death in the country.
Tahir Ahmed Naseem, a member of the persecuted Ahmadi group, was first arrested in 2018 after a student at a religious school reported him for blasphemy. While in court on Wednesday morning, a man shot Naseem dead and was quickly apprehended.
A photo from after the shooting reviewed by the Washington Examiner shows Naseem slumped over three of the courtroom seats with a gunshot wound to his head. Videos from after the shooting showed the suspect shouting that his victim was an “enemy of Islam,” according to the BBC. He also reportedly said he was ordered to kill Naseem in a dream.
Saeed Zaher, a lawyer who was at the site of the shooting, told the Guardian that while blasphemy trials such as that of Naseem are open to the public, the fact that the gunman was able to bring a weapon inside represented a major breach of security.
“A person entering with a pistol and murdering someone within a courtroom is very disturbing,” Zaher added.
Blasphemy is a charge punishable by death in Pakistan, although no one has been executed for the offense. Blasphemy laws are a touchy subject in the country, as there have been allegations in the past of people using the difficult-to-prove crime to settle personal scores. Despite the lack of executions, at least 17 people are on death row in the country after blasphemy convictions.
According to the Center for Research and Security Studies, a Pakistan-based think tank, vigilantes have killed some 65 people linked to blasphemy accusations over the past three decades.
Ibn Abdur Rehman with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that extrajudicial killings tied to religion are a major issue in his country.
“Religious fanaticism is becoming unbearable in Pakistan. People are being killed in the name of religion. There is no check and balance. The government is clearly silent on this matter. This silence makes the government the culprit,” he said.
Although Naseem was an Ahmadi, a religious group that has many adherents in Pakistan, a spokesman for the group told the BBC that Naseem may have been mentally ill and said the slain man had posted videos to social media claiming to be the messiah.
