A Pakistani court dismissed the life sentence of an illiterate Christian man charged with writing defamatory words about Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
 Aslam Masih (photo: Christian Solidarity Worldwide) |
Aslam Masih, a shepherd from the village of Mammun Kanjun in Pakistan’s Faisalabad district, had been sentenced under the country’s notorious blasphemy law, which critics assail as a weapon to settle personal grudges with Christians and other non-Muslim minorities.
The 46-year-old Masih was accused of writing blasphemous words about Islam’s founder on an amulet tied around the neck of a dog to help it win a dogfight, according to British-based Christian advocacy groups Jubilee Campaign, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Barnabas Fund.
Angry villagers responded to the accusation by gathering at the village mosque and urging the mullah to press charges. A mob mobilized by the villagers stabbed Masih in the back, beat him severely and dragged him to the local police station.
Masih was charged Nov. 29, 1998, without an investigation. Later, a court in Faisalabad gave him two life sentences and a fine of 100,000 rupees, about $2,000.
Last Wednesday, however, a Lahore High Court judge, Justice Najam uz-Zaman, decided to throw out the case due to lack of evidence, according to defense attorneys at the Pakistan-based Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.
Human-rights groups say no one has been executed under the blasphemy law, but four accused Christians have been assassinated by extremists in the past 10 years, and others have survived attacks. In 1997, a judge was killed for acquitting Christians charged with blasphemy.
Last August, another Pakistani Christian, Ayub Masih, was acquitted by his country’s Supreme Court in Islamabad, but international groups warned his life still is threatened by militant Muslims.
Some families of the accused have been forced to leave their town and move to an undisclosed area, and many have left the country.
Section 295-C of Pakistan’s penal code says: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad … shall be punished with death and shall also be liable to a fine.”
The Pakistani government says about 97 percent of its 145 million people are Muslim, although Christian leaders claim they represent an estimated 6 percent of the population.
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