Pakistan jails man in country’s first child porn conviction

A Pakistan court on Thursday jailed a man for seven years in the country’s first ever conviction for child pornography.

Sadat Amin was found guilty by a Lahore court of being part of a global child pornography racket spread across Europe and the United States. Pakistan only criminalised child pornography, as well as sexual assault against minors, for the first time in March last year, following the passage of a bill in the Senate.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Amin was arrested on the complaint of the Norwegian Embassy in April last year. Investigators recovered more than 650,000 photographs and videos of child pornography in his possession.

Amin was also given a fine of 1.2 million rupees by the court in Lahore.

The amendment to the penal code last March also criminalised human trafficking within Pakistan, and raised the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 10.

Under the revised legislation, sexual assaults against minors are now punishable by up to seven years in prison. Previously only rape was criminalised. Likewise, child pornography, which was previously not mentioned in the law, is now punishable by seven years in prison.