A sessions court in Lahore sentenced a man to death in a three-year-old blasphemy case and fined him Rs200,000.

In 2016, police had filed a first information report against a man identified as Saleem under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code after he had uttered blasphemous remarks in a public place in the Lohari Gate area.

According to Deputy Prosecutor General Muhammad Amjad,12 witnesses had recorded testimonies against Saleem. Six of the testimonies had been recorded in court, while the other half were recorded via video link due to security concerns.

Half the trial had been conducted in court, and the other half via video link while the accused remained in Camp Jail for security purposes. Additional sessions judge Faizul Hassan read the verdict out to Saleem over video link.