“They were sentenced to death… on Friday for spreading blasphemous content online against the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran,” Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, told AFP on Monday.

“Our case was supported by forensic evidence from the devices used in this heinous act,” he added.

The four men were sentenced in Rawalpindi, the garrison city that neighbours the capital Islamabad. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in the prosecution of “online blasphemy” cases, with private vigilante groups bringing charges against hundreds of young individuals for allegedly committing blasphemy.

A member of a support group formed by the families confirmed the sentence to AFP and said the group would challenge the conviction.

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“The pattern of arrests and prosecutions in this case is consistent with previous ones,” said the support group member, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

“We urge the government to establish a commission to investigate the rise in these cases before these young individuals spend the best years of their lives behind bars.”