Christian charged with ‘blasphemy’ denied bail

LAHORE, Pakistan — A judge has denied bail to a young Christian man charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws despite the lack of evidence against him, sources said. Police in Shahdara, near Lahore, had arrested 23-year-old Khuram Masih on Dec. 5 and charged him with desecrating the Quran after his landlord, Zulfiqar Ali, alleged that he had burned pages of the book in order to prepare tea. Masih has said that he was falsely accused in the case because he had had an argument with Ali, his landlord. 

Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Quran or use of an extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment. Masih’s previous lawyers, Muhammad Farhad Tirmizi and Liaqat John, on Jan. 3 petitioned for his bail. Additional Sessions Judge Anjum Raza Syed refused to grant bail to Masih on grounds that the case was “very sensitive, and bail to the accused would fan religious sentiments and cause a great mishap.” Asif Aqeel, executive director of the Community Development Initiative, said lawyers hired by Masih’s relatives should not have petitioned the trial court for Masih’s bail so soon in the Muslim-majority country. 

“The judges in trial court are under extreme pressure from religious quarters and simply cannot set a blasphemy accused free on bail after just a month of the incident,” Aqeel said.