Mohammed Younus Shaikh a Muslim medical professor was...

Mohammed Younus Shaikh a Muslim medical professor was sentenced to death after a Pakistani court convicted him of blasphemy. He had been arrested in October 2000 after being accused by his students of making sacrilegious remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during a lecture. Dr Shaikh, who is being held in Rawalpindi's Adial jail, had denied the charge. Announcing the verdict, Safdar Hussain Malik, a Rawalpindi lower court judge, said that the professor deserved to be hanged for making derogatory remarks about Muhammad. He was also fined £1,000.Under Pakistan's blasphemy law the death sentence is mandatory for those found guilty of making remarks against Islam or Muhammad. Human rights groups say that the law has been misused by Islamic zealots to persecute religious minorities and liberal Muslims.