On Saturday (May 10), a Pakistani judge acquitted Christian of accusations of blasphemy and terrorism, noting that prosecutors “failed miserably” in establishing a case against him, his lawyer said.
Chand Shamaung, the father of two minor children, was arrested on June 23, 2024, accused of insulting Islam under Section 295-A of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Act, and was punished in prison for up to 10 years under Section 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. sahotra. Shamaun was previously granted bail on October 10, 2024 by the bench of two judges at Lahore High Court.
Section 295-a relates to “intentional and malicious conduct aimed at infuriating religious sentiments of all classes by shaming religion or religious beliefs.” Section 9 of the ATA is related to “an act of intent or potential to stir up sectarian hatred” and is punished for up to seven years of imprisonment.
Also, District and Session Jia Ula Khan, who presides over the counterterrorism court in the Sahiwal Division, has acquitted Shamaung in “an unfounded case registered against him by the police,” Sahotra said.
“The judge has acknowledged our claim that there is a major contradiction and contradiction in the statements of the prosecutor’s witnesses,” Sahotra told Christian Daily International Morning Star News. “In addition, witnesses who appeared in the court failed to establish their existence at the crime scene and witnessed alleged crime.”
Sahotra said police registered a lawsuit against Christians 13 hours after the alleged incident and registered a suspicious delay.
“It also failed to provide the court with a reasonable explanation of the extreme delay in registering the first information report (FIR).
The entire case against Shamaun was “frivolous and manufactured,” he said.
“In his ruling, the judge cited the judge’s ruling saying that the witness’s inconsistent statements made the prosecutor’s case “very suspicious.”
Under Pakistani blasphemy law, those convicted of insulting Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, have not been sentenced to death for the blasphemy, but could be sentenced to death.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks against suspects of blasphemous Asp. ASP accusations or mere rumors could escalate to murder and riots by Muslim mobs. Rights observers recorded a record 344 new cases of blasphemous ASP in Pakistan in 2024, highlighting the rise in abuse of the country’s accused blasphemous ASP law.
According to the annual Human Rights Observer Report published by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), out of 344 new cases of blasphemous Asp, 70% of the accused were Muslims, 6% Christians, 9% Hindus, and 14% Ahmadis.
“The blatant weaponization of blasphemous laws has continued to allow persecution, religious intolerance and widespread human rights violations,” the report states.
Section 298-A of the profanity laws relating to the disgrace of saints, including family, wives, Muhammad and four caliphate companions, were punished and most used in prisons for up to 10 years. Last year, 128 people were charged in this section.
“The next frequently abused provision was Section 295-A (Loss of Religious Emotions) with 106 reported cases,” the report states. “Section 298-C, which opposes the Ahmadi community in particular, was widely misused with 69 people in the accused.”
Sections 295-B (the exaggeration of the Quran) and 295-C (disrespectful of Muhammad) were also widely used, leading to 62 individuals accused in various parts of Pakistan, the report says.
Punjab had the highest number of blasphemy-related accusations, accounting for 62% of total cases, with 30% Sindh, 5% Khyber Paktanwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir recording 2% and Gilgit Baltistan recording 1%.
Among the districts, the number of reported cases of asp esp were the highest, with 32 in Sheikhpura district in Punjab, 28 in Lahore, 13, 11 Kot, 11 Okalah, 11 Sargoda, 10 Gujranwara and Zarpark districts in Sandh province and 35 Haff Talpark districts. The Mansera district state recorded the highest number of cases in seven.
Throughout the year, ten people accused of blasphemy were abnormally killed by individuals or violent mobs, including six from Punjab (two, Lahore and Rawalpindi, and one each from Sargoda and Gujrat). Balochistan (Quetta).
Over the past 38 years, at least 2,793 people have been accused of formally or informally blaspheming between 1987 and 2024. The report said at least 104 people were extralegally killed between 1994 and 2024, when 67 Muslims (64%), 26 Christians (25%), seven Ahmadis, one Hindi, one Buddhist and two religions were unknown.
With a Muslim population of over 96%, Pakistan ranked 8th on the 2025 World Watchlist, where it is the hardest place to become a Christian.
