Glasgow: March 28, 2014. (PCP) Sawan Masih, a Christian resident of Joseph Colony in Lahore, Pakistan, has been sentenced to death over an allegation of blasphemy almost a year after riots in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood. More than 100 Christian homes were torched after Mr Masih was accused of blasphemy during a conversation with a Muslim friend. Commenting on the case Mr Manassi Bernard, Chief Executive of Global Minorities Alliance, which advocates for the rights of minority communities the world over, said: "The Pakistan Government has an abysmal record of treating its citizens with harsh sentences when it comes to blasphemy, and provides no protection to the accused. There are scores of cases where death sentences have been delivered and the accused has languished in prison or is tortured, poisoned, or killed. "Members of minorities live in the shadow of death with the increasing misuse of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. "We call on the United Nations and the international community to take notice of these incidents, where members of minorities are implicated in crimes of 'blasphemy', and protect them from the misuse of these laws rather than let them languish in prisons for the crimes they never committed."