'Free blasphemy sentence Briton'

[File photo] A protest in Chaman on March 7, 2008, against the publication of drawings depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

• Muhammad Asghar was convicted of charges he claimed to be prophet


• His family and legal team say he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia


• Human rights groups have criticized Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law


• Asghar’s family is calling on Pakistan to release him so he can get treatment

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The family of a mentally ill British man sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy is calling on authorities to release him.

A court in the city of Rawalpindi last week handed down the punishment to Muhammad Asghar, 69, over charges alleging that he wrote letters claiming to be a prophet.

But his family, his lawyer and a British legal aid group say the court failed to take into account the mental state of Asghar, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

The sentencing hearing took place last week behind closed doors without his legal team’s knowledge, they say, and his lawyer has been blocked from visiting him since.

“We are really upset and concerned that they will never release him and that he will die in jail,” his family said in a statement released Monday by the British legal aid and advocacy group Reprieve. “He has already attempted suicide unsuccessfully.”

Taliban bombing kills 13 in Pakistan

Pakistan to name school after teen hero

2012: Teen blasphemy suspect speaks out

Asghar was convicted under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, which human rights groups say is used to settle personal scores and persecute minorities.

Now, his family and lawyer are concerned that his legal team will be prevented from meeting a key deadline this week to file an appeal that they say would keep important evidence about his mental health admissible in the case.

History of mental illness

Asghar was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the city where he was living at the time, and kept under observation in the hospital for over a month.

Later that year, he traveled with his wife to Pakistan, where he owns a number of properties.

He was arrested near Rawalpindi and jailed in September 2010 on allegations that during a dispute with one of his tenants, he had sent letters claiming to be a prophet.

Under Pakistani law, blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad is punishable by death or life imprisonment.

A Pakistani law firm took up his case and has been working on it for the past three years. The lawyer for the firm who has been representing Asghar spoke to CNN about the case on the condition of anonymity because of security concerns — the firm has received threats in the past.

The lawyer says Asghar denies sending the letters, describing the case as the result of a property dispute that turned bad.

Incoming Search Terms:
'Free blasphemy sentence Briton'
blasphemy, Briton, Free, sentence