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Pakistan

• Life Sentence Upheld

  

  Pakistani pastor, Zafar Bhatti, has been in prison since July 2012, after being accused of sending blasphemous text messages. In May 2017, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The accused pastor denies any involvement in the texts, stating that the phone in question was not even registered in his name (see this report).

  After numerous delayed appeal hearings, a court in Rawalpindi ruled on June 22nd, 2021, to uphold the sentence, despite the fact that new evidence had been presented proving Pastor Zafar's innocence. His lawyers now intend to appeal to the High Court.

• Christian Murdered for Defending His Sister

  

  A Christian man was allegedly killed by a group of militant Muslims for defending his sister's honour. On May 23rd, Arif Masih was kidnapped, beaten, poisoned and abandoned on a street of Tariqabad village in Punjab.

• Christian Couple Acquitted of Blasphemy

  

  After seven years on death row, Shafqat Emmanuel and his wife Shagufta Kausar were cleared of all charges against them by a Pakistani court on June 3rd, 2021. They were convicted on April 4th, 2014, after being accused of sending "blasphemous" text messages. The texts were allegedly sent from Shagufta's phone, which had gone missing a month prior and was never recovered. Furthermore, as the couple are illiterate, they would not have been able to send the alleged texts. (See this page for more details on the original conviction.)

• Conversion by Deception

  

  Adnan Bashir is a mentally challenged Christian man living in Gujjar Khan, Punjab. On April 14th, he wandered from his home and inadvertently encountered a protest being held by members of the Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Party.

• Christian Man Tortured Into False Confession

  

  On February 13th, Haroon Ayub Masih and his friend Salamat Mansha Masih were accused of blasphemy after reading the Bible out loud at a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, and then offering a Christian book to a Muslim man. Haroon and his family escaped into hiding, but Salamat was arrested (read more).

• Death Threats Against Released Christian Teen

  

  On March 1st, Nabeel Masih's lawyer successfully argued that there was no evidence of blasphemy committed by the teenage Christian, resulting in his release from a prison in Pakistan on March 18th (read more). He was then swiftly taken into hiding for his protection from militant crowds demanding his death.

• Two Christian Nurses Accused of Blasphemy

  

  On April 9th, Maryam Lal and Navish Arooj were directed by a senior nurse to clean up the walls of the Civil Hospital in Faisalabad, Pakistan, by removing any wall hangings or stickers found. When the Christians did as they were told, they were accused of desecrating wall hangings containing verses from the Quran. The two nurses have now been formally charged with blasphemy against Islam.

• Young Christian Released on Bail

  

  A young Christian who was convicted of blasphemy in 2018 at the age of 16 has been granted bail by the Lahore High Court in Pakistan. Nabeel Masih was accused after allegedly "liking" and sharing a picture on Facebook which was deemed disrespectful to the Kaaba (sacred shrine) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.

• Two Christians Charged with Blasphemy

  

  Two Christian men were reading the Bible aloud at a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, on February 13th when they were confronted by opposing Muslims. According to reports, Haroon Ayub Masih and his friend Salamat Mansha Masih were approached by Haroon Ahmad and his friends, who told the evangelical believers to stop what they were doing. Haroon Ayub and Salamat then offered them a Christian book titled, Water of Life.

• Kidnapped Girl Returns to Family

  

  On Saturday, December 5th, 2020, police in Faisalabad, Pakistan, found 12-year-old Farah Shaheen chained in the home of Khizar Hayat. Five months earlier, Khizar had kidnapped her, taken her to the local mosque to be converted to Islam, and then forced her to marry him. According to police, the dark marks on her ankles indicated that she was chained for most of her time in captivity.