Rimsha Masih case: Prayer leader granted bail in blasphemy case
Lawyer says police have no evidence of Chishti’s involvement.
ISLAMABAD:
A trial court on Thursday granted bail to cleric Khalid Jadoon Chishti, accused of defiling religious scriptures and tampering with evidence in order to falsely implicate Rimsha Masih in a blasphemy case.
District and Session Judge Raja Jawad Abbas accepted the bail application of Chishti and granted him bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000.
Chishti was arrested and sent to jail on September 1 on judicial remand after three witnesses including Hafiz Zubair, a member of the cleric’s mosque, recorded statements claiming that they saw the cleric tearing religious scriptures and placing them in a plastic bag. However, the three witnesses later withdrew their statements, claiming police had coerced them into providing them.
During Thursday’s hearing, Advocate Syed Wajid Gillani, counsel for the petitioner, requested the court to accept his client’s bail application. He informed the court that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also directed the trial court to take up his client’s bail application.
He said that his client had been detained on false charges, and pointed to the fact that the three witnesses who had testified against his client earlier had since withdrawn their statements. Gilliani also told the court that the police have no evidence of his client’s involvement in the case.
At the last hearing, the same court refused to entertain Chishti’s bail application and directed his counsel to obtain a clarification from the IHC as to whether the trial court could hear the case. On October 1 Chief Justice of the IHC restrained the trial court from proceeding in Rimsha Masih’s case until October 17.
The restraint orders from the higher court came after Rimsha filed a petition for the dismissal of the blasphemy FIR which was registered against her on August 16.
Justice Mohammad Azim Khan Afridi of IHC allowed the district and sessions court to take up the bail application after his counsel moved IHC seeking clarification on October 10.
On September 22 police investigating the case declared prayer leader Chishti guilty, adding that there was no evidence against Rimsha and that he had framed her.
Rimsha was arrested in a suburb of Islamabad
on August 16 after a neighbour accused her of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2012.
A trial court on Thursday granted bail to cleric Khalid Jadoon Chishti, accused of defiling religious scriptures and tampering with evidence in order to falsely implicate Rimsha Masih in a blasphemy case.
District and Session Judge Raja Jawad Abbas accepted the bail application of Chishti and granted him bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000.
Chishti was arrested and sent to jail on September 1 on judicial remand after three witnesses including Hafiz Zubair, a member of the cleric’s mosque, recorded statements claiming that they saw the cleric tearing religious scriptures and placing them in a plastic bag. However, the three witnesses later withdrew their statements, claiming police had coerced them into providing them.
During Thursday’s hearing, Advocate Syed Wajid Gillani, counsel for the petitioner, requested the court to accept his client’s bail application. He informed the court that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also directed the trial court to take up his client’s bail application.
He said that his client had been detained on false charges, and pointed to the fact that the three witnesses who had testified against his client earlier had since withdrawn their statements. Gilliani also told the court that the police have no evidence of his client’s involvement in the case.
At the last hearing, the same court refused to entertain Chishti’s bail application and directed his counsel to obtain a clarification from the IHC as to whether the trial court could hear the case. On October 1 Chief Justice of the IHC restrained the trial court from proceeding in Rimsha Masih’s case until October 17.
The restraint orders from the higher court came after Rimsha filed a petition for the dismissal of the blasphemy FIR which was registered against her on August 16.
Justice Mohammad Azim Khan Afridi of IHC allowed the district and sessions court to take up the bail application after his counsel moved IHC seeking clarification on October 10.
On September 22 police investigating the case declared prayer leader Chishti guilty, adding that there was no evidence against Rimsha and that he had framed her.
Rimsha was arrested in a suburb of Islamabad
on August 16 after a neighbour accused her of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2012.