Posted on 05/19/2012 4:13:56 PM PDT by Olog-hai
A court acquitted a Christian couple of blasphemy charges yesterday, overturning their life sentences, their lawyer said.
Chaudhry Naeem Shakir told Compass that Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court accepted the couples appeal because prosecutors failed to prove allegations that 32-year-old Munir Masih and his wife Ruqayya defiled the Quran or insulted Muhammad on Dec. 8, 2008.
The allegations by Muhammad Nawaz in Mustafabad, Kasur district, came under sections 295-B and 295-C respectively of Pakistans blasphemy laws, which are routinely employed to exact revenge on Christians over personal disputes; in this case, the Christian couples children had fought with the family of Muhammad Yousaf, who directed his driver, Nawaz, to file the blasphemy charges.
Shakir said that the First Information Report (FIR) indicated Nawaz initially accused Ruqayya Masih of using the Quran for exorcism. He accused her of touching the Quran without ablution and said that her husband was equally culpable since he remained a silent spectator. The complainant also claimed that the couple insulted Muhammad.
A trial court had exonerated them from charges of blasphemy against Muhammad in 2010 but sentenced them to life imprisonment (25 years in Pakistan) for allegedly defiling the Quran. The couple then filed an appeal in the Lahore High Court pleading not guilty.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurasiareview.com ...
...because prosecutors failed to prove allegations that 32-year-old Munir Masih and his wife Ruqayya defiled the Quran or insulted Muhammad on Dec. 8, 2008Clearly believers need to carry out the death sentences as commanded by the Koran!
I am still thinking that one of these blasphemy charges will be filed in the UK any day now.
Anyone for a vacation in Pakistan?
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