PESHAWAR – A Chinese national accused of committing blasphemy was grantedbail by an anti-terrorism court in Abbottabad before being released to anundisclosed location.
The suspect was arrested on April 16th in Upper Kohistan district afterbeing accused of blasphemy by a mob who had accused him of committingblasphemy while exchanging arguments with laborers over long prayer breaksat the project site.
The FIR was registered at Kamila police station under sections 295-C of thePakistan Penal Code and Section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The judgegranted the bail plea after the Chinese national furnished a bond of Rs.200,000 as surety, and his lawyers contended that their client wasinnocent, terming the blasphemy charge against him false.
During the hearing, the Joint Investigation Team, which was set up to probethe matter, presented records of statements made by the accusers and theChinese national. The court observed that the three accusers were unable toproduce evidence in support of their accusations, nor could they provecharges in their statements before the JIT.
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The judge ruled that the case did not come within the ambit of “reasonableground” as the blasphemy charge was the “result of a misunderstanding,” andthat the police station had registered a “false case” against the Chinesenational.
