Pakistan: Christian man charged with blasphemy is refused bail

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Christian man in Lahore, Pakistan, has been denied bail and kept in custody after being charged with blasphemy against Islam for sharing Facebook posts with Bible verses, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.

Haroon Shahzad, a resident of Sargodha, was arrested on June 30 after his Facebook posts garnered the rage of a Muslim extremist Muhammad Imran Ullah, who is affiliated with Muslim extremist political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and also has strong ties to banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, MSN reports. Shahzad was charged with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine, or both.”

According to his attorney Aneeqa Maria, Shahzad was denied bail after police connived with the plaintiff and his cohorts to block him from appearing at his bail hearing in the Sargodha courtroom of Additional Sessions Judge Nazir Ahmed on July 11, MSN reports.

“The police denied justice to Shahzad to appease the religious parties,” Maria told MSN. “They knew he would get bail on merit, which is why they deliberately kept him from appearing before the judge.”

“When the judge asked about Shahzad, the IO told the court he was not in police custody and denied knowing his whereabouts,” Maria added. “I countered his claim, telling the judge that Shahzad had been taken into protective custody in my presence. But my pleas were ignored, and the judge, ostensibly under pressure from the mob, rejected our plea for giving permanent bail to Shahzad since he had not appeared in court.”

Ruled by Islamist extremist authoritarians, Pakistan ranks 7 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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