LAHORE, Pakistan — A Christian man charged under Pakistan’s blasphemy and anti-terrorism laws has been acquitted, according to his attorney.
Chand Shamaun was arrested in June 2024 for allegedly insulting Islam, threatening desecration of the Quran and causing religious tensions in India’s Punjab province, attorney Javed Sahotra told Morning Star News-Christian Daily International.
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Shamaun faced as many as 10 years in prison on the blasphemy charge and up to seven years on the anti-terrorism charge, Sahotra said.
‘Major discrepancies’
According to Sahotra, the judge admitted on May 10 to “major discrepancies” in the prosecution information presented in court and to “contradictions” in witness testimonies.
In 2024, Pakistan’s 344 new cases of false blasphemy charges reflected an uptick in the number of accusations from previous years, reveals the Annual Human Rights Observer report of the Center for Social Justice. Seventy percent of the accused were Muslims and 6% were Christians.
Although one section of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws stipulates a death penalty, authorities have not yet carried out such a penalty.
However, at least 104 accused individuals (25% of whom were Christians) were slain by mobs and others between 1994 and 2024 over blasphemy allegations, the news outlet says, quoting the report.
World Watch
Pakistan is 96% Muslim. It ranks No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian, according to the news outlet.
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