Pak: Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy acquitted on appeal
January 31, 2013: After the young girl Rimsha Masih, the Pakistani Christian community
can celebrate the acquittal on appeal of a man sentenced to death - without evidence
and on the basis of trumped-up charges - for blasphemy. The verdict may give new vigor
and hope the other victims of the "black law", including the 46-year old mother of
five, Asia Bibi, still waiting for the appeal hearing to begin. Many, in fact, are
calling for a "revision" of the law, which is often used to settle personal disputes
and conflicts and which caused the brutal murders of Catholic Minister for Minorities
Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer in 2011.
Barkat Masih, 56
was born to a Hindu family but converted to Christianity. A native of the city of
Bahawalpur in Punjab province, he was involved (although innocent) in a case of blasphemy
on October 1, 2011, and was sentence in the first instance to the death penalty.
Local
sources said that the man, a security guard by profession, git caught up in a workers
dispute, who wanted to illegally occupy a portion of land. He prevented them from
entering an office, where property documents were stored. At his refusal, two Muslim
workers - Muhammad Saleem and Muhammad Shoaib - insulted and threatened him, and promised
to "make him pay."
They reported him to police, who carried arrested him on
charges of having insulted the Prophet Muhammad, a crime that can lead to the death
penalty under Article 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, after spending 18
months in prison on 28 January, Judge Javed Ahmed of Bahawalpur High Court upheld
the appeal and acquitted the accused because the crime does not exist.
Human
rights activists and Christian leaders are satisfied with the judgment, a positive
signal for many similar cases in the future. The NGO World Vision In Progress, which
supported the man's defense, is happy with the verdict and speaks of "the beginning
of a change." Haroon Barkat Masih, president of the Masihi Foundation, points out
that the blasphemy laws are exploited to "target the marginalized communities" and
that charges "are tantamount to a death sentence." For this reason he hopes that the
case is an important "precedent" and that "necessary changes" be made to the law.
Finally, Fr. Nawaz George, a priest of the Diocese of Lahore, committed to defending
the rights of Christians, expresses his "delight" at the release of an "innocent person"
who kept "firm in his faith." "We hope that this fact - he concludes - may bring new
hope to people who are in prison, waiting for justice to be done."