June 16, 2009

Some 50 Muslim clergy burst in and overran a Pakistani courtroom in hopes of swaying a judge in a "blasphemy" case against a Christian couple.  According to the Christians' lawyer, "Nobody could stop them as they rushed into the court.  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 were accused of defiling the Quran by touching it with unwashed hands.  Masih was taken to prison and remained there until 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 then filed another accusation, this time for blasphemy against Muhammad. 

Despite pressure from the crowd of clerics, Judge Shafqat Ali -- himself a Muslim cleric -- granted the couple bail. Following the hearing, however, a member of the prosecution team approached Bibi outside the courtroom and said, "Whatever the decision, we will kill you."

Masih, who before his initial arrest had been a day laborer, is no longer able to find work due to the stigma of the blasphemy accusation.

Pakistani law carries a death sentence for anyone found "by words or visible representation or by an imputation or insinuation, directly or indirectly, [to have] defiled the name of the Muhammad of Islam."

-- adapted from Compass Direct News