A Saudi journalist, Hamza Kashgari might be the first person to face death penalty for remarks that he shared on Twitter which insulted The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

It is believed that Kashgari tweeted  his doubts about The Prophet (PBUH) on His birthday last week. Insulting the Prophet (PBUH) is considered blasphemy in Islam and is punishable by death under the strict laws of Saudi Arabia.

Kashgari’s controversial tweet caused a huge uproar with more than 30,000 responses and a large number of death threats. More than 13,000 people joined a Facebook page called, ‘The Saudi People Demand The Execution of Hamza Kashgari.’

This outrage was not only from people on the internet, Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia called for Kashgari to be put to death. In fear of losing his life, Kashgari fled from his native Saudi Arabia for Malaysia, where blasphemy is not a capital offense.

Hamza Kashgari’s post on twitter revealed his contradictory views about his faith. He even apologized and deleted his tweet, but fled from Saudi Arabia in fear of the death penalty. Kashgari said in an interview that he was being made a ‘scapegoat for a larger conflict’ over his comments. He even posted his apology on twitter. And his account has since been deleted, along with the offending tweets.

“I view my actions as part of a process towards freedom. I was demanding my right to practice the most basic human rights – the freedom of expression and thought – so nothing was done in vain,” he added.

Hamza Kashgari’s arrest has obviously raised questions regarding the involvement of Interpol in the matter. The Malaysian authorities said that Mr. Kashgari was detained at the airport on his arrival in the country following a request made by the International police cooperation agency on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

Jago Russell, the chief executive of the British charity Fair Trials International said yesterday, that, Interpol should technically not have been involved in this case as it was ‘clearly of a religious nature.’

The question now is, if the issue is strictly religious or if there is something else behind the entire case? If it is strictly religious then why is Interpol involved?