Blasphemy Case: Court acquits Christian on death row

The acquittal was based on lack of evidence.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court has acquitted a Christian man who was sentenced to death for blasphemy six years ago, lawyers said on Thursday.

Younis Masih, 34, a labourer, was arrested in September 2005 in the low-income Qenchi Amar Siddhu neighbourhood of Lahore after local residents accused him of interrupting a gathering of Sufi singing to make blasphemous remarks.

“The high court on Wednesday decided to overturn the death sentence and ordered that Masih be acquitted,” Masih’s lawyer, Naeem Shakir told AFP.

“I argued the case in February and put to the court that there is no direct evidence against Younis Masih and that the case was based on hearsay,” he said.

Shakir said his client would be freed “in a couple of days” after he obtained a written copy of the decision and a detailed judgment.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2013.