Sunday, 2 September 2012


Muslim cleric arrested in Pakistan Koran-burning case

Pakistani police have arrested a Muslim cleric on suspicion of planting evidence against a young Christian girl accused of blasphemy, the latest twist to a case that has shone a spotlight on the country's persecuted minorities.

Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishtie (blindfolded) is escorted by police following a court hearing in Islamabad Photo: EPA
Rob Crilly in Islamabad
3:06PM BST 02 Sep 2012
Rimsha Masih has been held at a high-security prison for more than a fortnight after being arrested in a Christian enclave outside Islamabad. She is accused of burning pages of a religious text, a crime punishable with death.
Now her supporters say she could be freed as soon as Monday.
They say she has Down’s syndrome and is the victim of a long-running vendetta carried out by Muslims who want the Christian community to leave their homes.
They appeared to be vindicated on Sunday, when Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishtie, imam of a nearby mosque was presented before court to be charged with desecrating a Koran by adding pages to charred rubbish collected from Rimsha.
He was detained in a raid late on Saturday night after worshippers at his mosque came forward to say he had been seen tampering with evidence.
“He was arrested after his deputy Maulvi Zubair and two others told a magistrate he added pages from the Koran to the burnt pages brought to him by a witness,” said Munir Hussain Jaffri, a police investigator.
The details offer the chance for Pakistan to draw a line under a seemingly intractable saga that has exposed its violent religious divide.
At the same time, however, hardliners have warned of a conspiracy and question why it has taken so long for the new witness to come forward.
Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer for the man who made the original accusation, accused the authorities of interfering in the case.
“They are pressurising the complainants and witnesses to facilitate the bail of Rimsha,” he told the court.
Rimsha has so far been refused bail and is being held in the notorious Adiala jail.
A medical report last week said Rimsha appeared to be 14 years old, which would make her a minor, and had a mental age below her true age, and therefore eligible for bail but the court has yet to decide whether to accept the assessment.
Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, her defence lawyer, said the revelation would bolster efforts to free Rimsha at a bail hearing today(MON). He added that no-one had managed to explain how her accusers had managed to see inside the bag she was carrying and spot burned pages of Koranic verse.
“From the first moment we believed the accusation was false and fabricated,” he said.
“The imam himself has admitted trying to drive Christians away from the area.” Rimsha’s home neighbourhood has been the scene of a long-running religious dispute, with Muslims angered by noisy hymns sounding from a church.
Muslims say they have come under intense police pressure to withdraw the original blasphemy allegation, following an international outcry.
The Vatican, democracy movements and Western governments have all expressed concern about the case.
Human rights groups believe Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws are being abused to target religious minorities or settle personal scores.
The issue is hugely sensitive in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the 180 million population are Muslims, and allegations of insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammed often prompt a furious public reaction.
Last year, two high-profile campaigners for reform of the law were assassinated and judges are fearful of appearing lenient.

Posted by Britannia Radio at 17:49