A Pakistani man was sentenced one year imprisonment and 120 lashes here Saturday in a landmark ruling on cybercrime, which the authorities say has become a threat to public security. The Pakistani man, a driver, was found guilty of trying to blackmail his sponsor, a woman, by threatening to publish photos of her that he had stealthily taken using his cellphone, online. The accused pleaded that he had resorted to blackmail because she had not paid him his salary, that he had meant to only frighten her and not actually publish the photos. But the prosecution, producing his confiscated cellphone as evidence, sought maximum punishment under the law, which could run to a maximum of five years in jail. The woman dropped her private right to the case. The driveR accepted the verdict and said he would not appeal.
