Muslims overrun court during Christians’ hearing

MUSTAFABAD, Pakistan — In May, radical Pakistani Muslims overran a courtroom in a town outside of Lahore in hopes of swaying a judge in a “blasphemy” case against a Christian couple, and a member of the prosecution later threatened to kill the wife.

Some 50 Muslim clergy burst into the courtroom May 14 in Mustafabad, where a bail hearing was taking place in the case against Munir Masih and his wife Ruqiya Bibi, according to the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). The couple had granted a Muslim neighbor’s request to store some of his possessions in their home, including a Quran. The Islamic clergymen storming into the courtroom claimed that no non-Muslims had the right to keep a Quran in their home, said CLAAS’s Tahir Gull, sole representative for the accused. After the bail hearing, a member of the prosecution team approached Bibi while she was outside the courtroom waiting to testify and threatened to kill her. Gull said, “Ruqiya was waiting outside the court for her turn and one man came and said, ‘Whatever the decision, we will kill you.’”