Christian teen cleared of charges of ripping Koran

FAISALABAD, Pakistan — In mid-September, a Pakistani judge unexpectedly cleared a Christian teenager of charges that he had ripped up pages containing verses from the Koran, the Christian’s lawyer said.

Judge Muhammad Abdul Sattar acquitted Shahid Masih, 18, at a lower court hearing in Faisalabad after prosecution witnesses Mohammad Younis and Khalid Mehmood dropped their claims that Masih’s co-defendant told them he had seen Masih tear pages from a book explaining verses in the Koran. Muslim teenager Muhammad Ghaffar had allegedly witnessed the act while he and Masih supposedly stole books from a medical clinic in Madina Town district of Faisalabad Sept. 10, 2006.

“There were about 100 fanatics inside and outside the courtroom who were astonished when their own witnesses claimed that the accused were innocent,” defense lawyer Khalil Tahir said. “They were very, very angry.”