Veena Malik, a Pakistani actress has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for blasphemy after appearing in a mock TV wedding.
She took part in the staged marriage on a morning show while
musicians sang a devotional song about the wedding of the Prophet
Muhammad's daughter.
Her
husband, Asad Bashir Khan, and the chief of the country's biggest media
group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, were also handed 26-year jail terms.
Mrs
Malik, who has recently given birth to a baby boy, spoke of her anger
and disbelief after the verdict was handed down by a Pakistani
anti-terrorism court.
She reportedly told a local newspaper: ""26 years! Come on. 26 years is a lifetime...
"But
I have faith in higher courts in Pakistan. When the final verdict
comes, it will do justice to me. Nothing bad is going to happen.
"I have faced highs and lows in my life. But I am sure I haven't done anything wrong."
The four
people convicted were also ordered to pay a fine of 1.3million rupees
(£8,000), sell their properties and surrender their passports,
according to a copy of the court order.
The
broadcast by Geo TV set off a storm of controversy on social media,
though similar routines by other channels in the past have largely gone
unnoticed.
Many observers at the time suspected Pakistan's military establishment of engineering the blasphemy campaign against Geo TV.
The channel was then caught up in a struggle with the all-powerful military.
The
blasphemy case was registered on May 26 in a police station in Gilgit
by a hardline sunni cleric Himayatullah Khan, deputy chief of the
anti-shia organisation Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) formerly known as
Sipah-e-Sahaba.
No lawyer appeared on behalf of any of the accused. However the court had arranged a state lawyer to defend them.
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