By Michael Ireland, Senior Reporter, ASSIST News Service answritermike@gmail.com
GUJRANWALA, PAKISTAN (ANS, July 28, 2015) –
A Pakistani Christian believer has been acquitted and declared innocent
of blasphemy charges after the complainant told the Sessions Judge that
he was innocent and did not commit the alleged offense.
According to LEAD (Legal Evangelical Association Development) www.leadfamily.blogspot.com,
Arif Masih was on July 25, 2015, acquitted and declared innocent of
blasphemy charges by the court of Mr. Iftikhar Husain Cheema, Additional
and Sessions Judge of Wazirabad, after the complainant of the case, Mr.
Khuram Shahzad, told the court Masif was innocent and did not commit
any offence.
In
an e-mail update on the case, LEAD says that in October 2013, two
brothers -- Tariq Masih and Arif Masih -- had been falsely accused of
blasphemy at Thatha Faqir Ullah, a Christian Colony of Wazirabad city,
Gujranwala District (FIR -- First Informiation Report
-- Number 533/2013, dated October 29, 2013) under section 295 B PPC was
registered at the Waziranbad Police Station Saddar against them.
In the e-mail, received by the
ASSIST News Service, LEAD stated: “Our colleague Mr. Nadeem Masih, a
Christian lawyer, worked diligently and made agreed the complainant and
witnesses with the help of family of the victim to give their statements
in the favor of the accused in the court and the complainant gave his
statement, which was considered by the court and the accused released.”
LEAD explained that Tariq Masih
worked at the cutlery factory and in his spare time used to sell
firecrackers to earn extra money. His brother Arif Masih was working on
the Pakistan Railway. He is stated to have been innocent. Tariq, the
main accused in the case, has relocated to Thailand.
On October 25, 2013, Muzammil
Malik bought the firecrackers from Tariq Masih for the wedding of
Muhammad Zahid. Some of the firecrackers did not work properly,
according to the complaint made by Khurram Shahzad, and when the
firecrackers did not crack, he opened them and noticed they were made
with pages from the Quran. This was also stated by Tajjamul Butt and
Muhammad Waris, witnesses to the case. Tariq Masih relocated to Thailand
and Arif Masih was arrested, charged, and acquitted.
Gujranwala is an industrial city in Gujranwala District, Punjab province of Pakistan, and is the seventh-most-populous Pakistani metropolitan area.
LEAD is an advocacy and legal
aid organization working in Pakistan fighting for minorities' rights and
defends victims of blasphemy laws. It promotes awareness through its
educational projects. The organization is a registered relief,
development, advocacy and free legal aid organization dedicated
to working with children, families, communities, Churches and different
denominations to overcome poverty and injustice. LEAD requests moral and
physical support for uplifting the poor and Christian community, see www.leadfamily.blogspot.com.
Photo One: Location of Gujranwala
Photo Two: Michael Ireland
About
the writer: Michael Ireland is a Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST
News Service, as well as a volunteer Internet Journalist and Ordained
Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and ASSIST News Service
since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Click http://paper.li/Michael_ASSIST/1410485204 to see a daily digest of Michael's stories for ANS.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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