Pakistani
judge throws out slanderous
blasphemy
charge against
Christian.
 |
| Justice is a grindstone to the Law (Photo by Bill Hunt). |
LAHORE,
Pakistan, Feb. 19 (World
Watch Monitor)
— A Pakistan court last month surprised all involved when it
dismissed charges of blasphemy against a Christian man accused of
insulting Islam.
The
Jan. 28 ruling by a trial court in Punjab province surprised
defendant Barkat Masih, his attorney and religious-rights advocates.
It came two months after a different judge threw out similar charges
against a teen-aged girl that drew worldwide criticism of Pakistan’s
anti-blasphemy laws.
Masih
was arrested in October 2011 on the basis of a complaint filed by two
men who accused him of insulting the prophet Muhammad. After one
judge balked at taking up the case, a second stepped in an ordered a
police investigation of the charge. Police found evidence that the
accusers were attempting to wrest property away from Masih, and
prosecutors could provide no evidence to support the blasphemy
charge.
The
judge then threw out the case and set Masih free.
“This
is a remarkable case in which a trial court judge has released a
person charged with blasphemy,” said Masih’s lawyer, Allah Rakha.
“In my several years of legal practice I have never seen a trial
judge showing guts in such a sensitive matter.”
Some
government officials drew a link from the case of Barkat Masih to the
much more widely covered case of Rimsha Masih, an Islamabad girl
arrested in August on charges that she burned some pages of an
Islamic text. The courts threw out the case when police provided
evidence the burned pages were planted on the girl by a local Imam.
“Rimsha
Masih’s case is a clear example of how the blasphemy laws are
misused by people,” Peter Jacob, of the National Commission for
Justice and Peace, told World Watch Monitor.
“Even
in Barkat Masih’s case, it’s quite clear that the complainants
wanted to grab his property therefore they charged him with an
allegation quite a few people in Pakistan dare to question. The
government and judiciary should review all blasphemy cases because
most of those accused are victims of jealousy and prejudice.”
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2013 World Watch Monitor
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