According to the complainant, Muhammad Tayyab, the accused had attempted to distribute blasphemous literature. PHOTO: FILE
An additional district and sessions judge has framed charges against four printing press employees under the blasphemy laws for allegedly publishing blasphemous literature and summoned witnesses for September 14.
Moeed Ayaz, Asmatullah, Razaullah and Ghulamullah, who work as printers, binders and laminators at Black Arrow Printing Press, were arrested on January 7 as they loaded a small truck with books and CDs. They are to stand trial under Sections 295-B (desecration of the Holy Quran) and 298-C (which prohibits Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The owner of the printing press is at large. The Lahore High Court had earlier granted the four men bail after Additional District and Sessions Judge Shaukat Nadeem had rejected their post-arrest bail pleas.
They argued in their bail application that police took action against them on the basis of a call to Police 15 in the absence of an FIR, which was a violation of procedure. They also argued that the Sections 295-B and 298-C of the PPC did not apply to the alleged offence.
If the complainant was right, they said, they could only be tried for violating sections of the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) Act of 2011, under which the maximum punishment they could get was three years.
According to the complainant, Muhammad Tayyab, the accused had attempted to distribute blasphemous literature.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2013.
COMMENTS (7)
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every body should give respect to the belives of others. in case of religions there are many limitations,which should be observed. dont hurt feelings of people around
Ahmadis are framed one way or another. The conscience of the country is flickering to a point where it will eventually extinguish. Express Tribune, as an eminent newspaper, is keeping it alight by publishing such news to demonstrate and give us food for thought. Other papers don’t even publish this for the fear of extremist retaliation. A sane person from any school of thought can read all published material of Ahmadis in their newspapers, books and websites and can concur with me that there is nothing blasphemous in it. The Ahmadiyya adversaries keep finding new avenues of persecuting this minority community in the name of Islam and Pakistani law. The social circumstances for Ahmadis and extremist environment donot provide room for justice.
@Genesis: Your religious freedom ends where the limits of other religion start.
religious freedom so that all religions can thrive? Not possible but if other countries were to to behave so there will be riots.they want freedom elsewhere not in their home country.
We are ridiculously going out of our minds when the providers of justice can be dictated what kind of decisions they must make against minorities while proven blasphemy culprits of framing innocent person can be released without any argument. God save Pakistan.
All Pakistanio !! you passing "RESOLUTION" for all the world, but do not YOU PURE Pakistanio find words to draft one for Pakistani Ahamdis or shias too? Does this kind of resolution needs special words, which is beyond your EDUCATIONAL abilities? Remember depriving HUMAN RIGHTS to your own people, leaves you with NO ETHIC ground to demand rights from others.
Here we go again;and Mr. Chishti was let go in spite of his framing the girl wrongly and inciting mobs for murder