A court in Madina, Saudi Arabia sentenced a Pakistani national to three years of imprisonment for recording a video inside Masjid-e-Nabwi and posting it on TikTok.
The man recorded the video on April 29 when several pilgrims, including Pakistani nationals residing in the kingdom, heckled federal ministers Marriyum Aurangzeb and Shahzain Bugti while they were visiting the mosque. The ministers were part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation who visited the kingdom after taking the office.
The man named Muhammad Tahir will have to pay a fine of SAR10,000. According to the official press release, the authorities traced Tahir’ audio and registered a case against him.
The incident
According to several videos of the incident that went viral over the internet, a delegation of ministers arrived at the mosque to offer prayers. However, as they entered the courtyard, Aurangzeb and Bugti were encircled by a group of men who chanted slogans and hurled profanities.
Subsequently, the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan confirmed “some” Pakistani pilgrims were arrested for disrespecting Majisd-e-Nabwi.
The protesters were taken into custody by Saudi authorities for “violating the regulations” and “disrespecting” the sanctity of the holy mosque, the embassy said.
Later, Madina police, put out a statement saying that five Pakistanis were arrested for using inappropriate language within the mosque’s premises.
‘Planned act’
Addressing a press conference after the incident, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the sloganeering was a planned act and the planning was done in Pakistan.
He also said that the government would take action against the accused after they are deported from Saudi Arabia.
On May 1, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member National Assembly (MNA) Sheikh Rashid Shafiq at the New Islamabad Airport when he returned from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah.
According to the FIA officials, he was arrested in connection with a case registered in Faisalabad in which former Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed and 150 other people were also nominated for desecrating the holy mosque.
According to the FIR, the case was registered under sections 109 (abatement to crime), 295 (defiling place of worship), 295A (malicious acts to hurt religious feelings) and 296 (disturbing religious assembly) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
After the incident, as many as 150 FIRS were registered at different police stations against PTI leaders and others under blasphemy sections 295-A and 295-B.
After the cases were registered, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry filed an application in the Islamabad High Court to stop the police from arresting PTI’s leaders. Later, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred the police from registering more cases against the PTI leaders over the incident.
