Veena Malik sentenced to 26 years in jail for mock TV wedding scene

Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Tuesday awarded 26-year jail term to owner of the country's major media group for airing "blasphemous contents" during a TV programme. The court ordered the arrest of Mir Shakil ur Rehman, the owner of the Jang group of publications. The group owns "Geo television" and the English daily "The News".

The court in Gilgit-Baltistan also announced jail term for known actress Veena Malik, her husband Asad Malik and Shayesta Lodhi, who had hosted the controversial programme.

Geo TV in May 2014 aired a video of actress Veena Malik’s wedding which was also attended by the channel’s morning show host Shaista Lodhi. The video featured rituals and celebrations being performed to a traditional song, a song that was about the wedding of Prophet Mohammad’s daughter.

Comparing Veena Malik to the Prophet’s daughter and the entire enactment angered both Sunni and Shiite Muslims. An alliance of various Sunni groups soon issued a decree against the channel, team and host of the programme and declared watching Geo TV was ‘haram’ or illegitimate.

Geo television's programme prompted criticism from religious circles. The TV had publicly apologised over the programme and also published apology in the group's English and Urdu newspapers.

None of the accused were present in the court at the time of the announcement of the verdict. Veena Malik has expressed her anger and disbelief after she was handed a 26-year jail term by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court for ‘malicious acts’ of blasphemy.

Judge Raja Shehbaz Khan also imposed a penalty of 1.3 million Pakistani rupees(about $12,500)each on all the convicts, who have the right to appeal against the judgment.

Waqar Ahmad, secretary to the judge, told the media the court ordered the local administration to confiscate properties of the convicts if they did not surrender to the authorities. 

A petition, filed in May this year, had stated that the convicts had "used derogatory language for "committing blasphemy by airing objectionable contents" against the family of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad.

Officials said all convicts can file appeal against the verdict in the chief court in Gilgit-Baltistan, which is equal to a high court.

The programme was aired to celebrate the wedding of famous film and TV drama actress Veena Malik.

Veena Malik and her husband Asad  Bashir don't live in Pakistan