From Compass Direct
Six months after his arrest on charges of alleged blasphemy, Pakistani Christian Anwer Masih has been ordered released on bail by the Lahore High Court. Masih, 30, was granted bail on the morning of June 4 by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani. Overriding protests from the advocate general, the high court judge declared that no direct evidence had been produced against the defendant in the case. Accordingly, Justice Jilani ordered Masih to pay a bond of 20,000 rupees ($345) for his bail surety and be set free for the duration of his trial. .... Masih was arrested in a Lahore suburb on November 30 last year for allegedly mocking the beard of a former Christian who had converted to Islam. Naseer Ahmad, a neighbor who had embraced Islam, accused Masih of slandering Muslim prophets and beliefs. ....
| "Hey, ex-Brother Mahmoud! Where'dja get that beard? Kinda scraggly, ain't it?" |
Only a handful of the Pakistani Christians jailed on charges of blasphemy have ever been granted bail during the long years of their trial proceedings. Even so, the bailed defendants have been forced to remain in hiding, with one such Christian shot and killed minutes after he had appeared at a court hearing. .... Currently seven Pakistani Christians are jailed without bail on similar cases of alleged blasphemy, three of them under trial in the lower courts with four others appealing death or life-in-prison sentences. |