Page 4 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Jul-Sep 2023 - 123

Faith
Death sentence for blasphemy accused in Pakistan
fire
Noman Masih
A 22-year-old Christian convicted of blasphemy has been handed a death sentence by a court in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
under
Lazar Allah Rakha, attorney for Noman Masih (pictured), said that the sessions court announced its verdict at the New Central Jail Bahawalpur, in Punjab Province, though the prosecution failed to provide evidence of the blasphemy charge against him, according to sources.
‘I’m extremely disappointed by the conviction, because there was absolutely
no case,’ Rakha told Morning Star News. ‘There was no proof against Noman, and none of the witnesses produced by police could corroborate the blasphemy allegation against him.’
Attacks on
Nigerian villages
claim 168 lives
Around 30 Christian villages were attacked by Fulani militants in Mangu, central Nigeria, in May.
At least 125 villagers, including children, were killed in the raids. Among the injured was an eight- month-old baby, Precious Mani, who was shot twice but survived. Her parents and five siblings were among the dead in the attack on Nbun Ward.
Similar attacks over the same period claimed another 43 lives.
Partners of UK-based Release International have been providing emergency relief aid as well as medical supplies to a hospital treating the victims.
One survivor from the village of Jwakom told our partners: ‘We saw people running and started to hear consistent gunshots. Our men told us to go. We all fled. We barely survived.’
A mother whose oldest child was killed in the attack said: ‘We started hearing gunshots in the night at around midnight. My grandmother and the girl who stays with me were killed, along with my first born. My five-year- old has been seriously wounded, too. He’s in great pain.’
She identified the attackers as militant Fulani herders. ‘They are our neighbours,’ she said. ‘Our house is just besides theirs. They called my son by name.’
According to Nigerian NGO Intersociety, 1,080 Christians were killed in attacks in the first quarter of 2023 alone.
Masih’s trial concluded in January, but the court repeatedly postponed the verdict on various pretexts, Rakha said. Masih was convicted of blaspheming Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, which carries a mandatory death sentence under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes.
‘Despite so many contradictions in the case, I’m at a loss to understand why [the judge] sentenced Noman instead of acquitting him,’ Rakha said. ‘This is murder of justice.’
Thankfully no one has been executed for blasphemy in Pakistan but those accused often end up languishing in prison for years waiting for their appeals
to be heard.
prison, Rakha said.
Also in May a court in Pakistan released on bail a Christian woman charged under a blasphemy statute that calls for life in
Rakha told Morning Star News that the post-arrest bails of Musarrat Bibi (pictured) and a Muslim accused along with her, Muhammad Sarmad, were admitted on bonds of 100,000 rupees (£270) each.
Bibi, a 45-year-old widow, and Sarmad are illiterate and were only carrying out orders of the school administration to clean the storeroom where she worked as an office worker and Sarmad as a gardener, the lawyer said. Intent must be proven for a blasphemy conviction in Pakistan.
Musarrat Bibi
Bibi and Sarmad had been told to clean the storeroom at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in a village in Arifwala, Pakpattan District, which was filled with paper and other scrap items, in April.
The two workers allegedly gathered the wastepaper and other scrap in a corner of the school and set them on fire. Some students later noticed that the burned items contained pages with koranic verses.
‘Both accused had no intention of burning the koranic pages,’ Rakha said.
Second raid on Chinese church Joint law enforcement officials raided Zhongxing Church in Zhengzhou, Henan province, in May, entering the building and destroying personal property, according to Release partner ChinaAid.
A ban notice was sent to the church, and a seal was placed on the front door. Church members left personal belongings at the scene, which were stolen. This is the second time since 2019 that it has been raided by the authorities.
Because the house church is not officially recognised as a social organisation, the police were allowed to destroy property and steal personal belongings, said ChinaAid. Chinese Communist Party-sanctioned churches do not face this level of persecution.
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