May 30, 2009
JihadWatch.org
"Whatever the decision, we will kill you": Member of prosecution team threatens woman on trial for "blasphemy" in Pakistan. . .
And Islamic clerics stormed the courtroom to demand a guilty verdict, in an update on this story. "Pakistan: Islamic radicals storm 'blasphemy' hearing," from Compass Direct News, May 29:
ISTANBUL, May 29 (Compass Direct News) - Radical Pakistani Muslims in a town outside of Lahore this month overran a courtroom 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 molvis (Muslim clergy) on May 14 burst into the courtroom in Mustafabad, where a bail hearing was taking place in the case against Munir Masih and his wife Ruqiya Bibi, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
"Nobody could stop them as they rushed into the court," said CLAAS's Tahir Gull, sole representative for the accused. "They said, No non-Muslim has the right to keep a Quran in his house, they have done this so they are liable to be punished.'"
Masih and Bibi, both in their 30s, were originally accused under section 295-B of Pakistan's penal code with defiling the Quran by touching it with unwashed hands on Dec. 8 of last year. Masih was taken to prison and remained there until Jan. 22, when a Muslim neighbor who had asked him to store some of his possessions, including his Quran, testified on his behalf and the case was dropped.
The complainant, Mohammad Nawaz, subsequently filed another accusation on Feb. 12, this time under 295-C, blasphemy against Muhammad, Islam's prophet. This charge carries a death sentence, whereas defiling the Quran calls for life imprisonment.
Despite pressure from the crowd of clerics, Judge Shafqat Ali - also a molvi - granted the couple bail. Following the hearing, however, a member of the prosecution team approached Bibi outside the courtroom and threatened to kill her.
"Ruqiya was waiting outside the court," said Gull, "and one man came and said, Whatever the decision, we will kill you.'"
A prosecution lawyer read portions of the Quran while presenting his case, he added.
"He was not explaining the law in which the accused were charged," said Gull. "He was trying to influence the court religiously."
Charges of blasphemy are common in Pakistan and particularly incendiary, often leading to strong shows of religious zeal. It is not uncommon for sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistani penal code to be invoked in retaliation for personal grievances.
"It is very easy to grab any person for religious reasons," said Parvez Choudhry, chairman of Legal Aid for the Destitute and Settlement, who specialize in blasphemy cases. "There are many personal cases involving property, or money, or business that motivate the complainant against the accused person. All the cases are falsely charged."...
