by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A second Christian charged with blasphemy in Pakistan was released on bail pending trial last week after a court found there was no direct evidence in the three cases brought against him, Christian Daily International (CDI) reports.
The father of a four-year-old daughter, Zimran Asim was released on October 29 after the Lahore High Court granted bail on September 24 in the third blasphemy case registered against him, his attorney Aneeqa Maria said in a statement. The high court had granted him bail in the other two cases on July 29 and April 24, CDI reports.
“Asim was implicated only because he was seen once with the primary accused, Akash Masih,” Maria said. “Zimran Asim’s case is a fitting example of how innocent people are implicated in false cases by individuals as well as the police. This poor man was forced to suffer in prison, away from his family for over one year. They also lost their home and can’t even think of going back to their village.”
“I believe the blatant misuse of the laws has made the situation equally dangerous for blasphemy accused, their defense counsels as well as rights defenders,” Maria added. “The government must take this issue seriously in order to protect innocent lives and break this environment of fear.”
Asim became the second Christian charged with blasphemy to be released on bail after a high court found there major defects in the case against Chand Shamaun, who was freed on October 23. Shamaun is accused of inciting religious tensions in Okara, Punjab Province, by threatening to desecrate the Quran, CDI reports.
Ruled by an Islamic government which has approved harsh blasphemy laws, Pakistan ranks 7 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Islamic “terrorist groups” have stepped up “their rampage of death and destruction” across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past year while “increasingly targeting children” from Christian communities “to use them as weapons for war and abuse,” according to new findings by a Christian advocacy group.
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (Worthy News) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has effectively called the European Union a failure and said radical reforms are needed to save the 27-nation bloc amid significant global challenges. Merz, leading Europe’s largest economy, told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that Germany and the EU have “wasted incredible potential” while the United States is increasingly setting the tone for a new world order. The chancellor, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Europe has stifled growth by curtailing freedom and personal responsibility … Read more
Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are holding three-way talks in Abu Dhabi in what is the first time the three countries have sat down together since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald J. Trump raised fresh hopes that he could help bring the armed conflict to an end soon.
A British nurse who faced possible dismissal for using male pronouns in reference to a transgender prisoner claiming to be a woman has been reinstated, Worthy News learned Friday.
Indonesian rescuers have found the bodies of all 10 passengers from a fishery surveillance plane that crashed in the country’s South Sulawesi province over the weekend, officials confirmed Friday.
Arab political parties in Israel announced Thursday a preliminary agreement to revive the Joint List, signaling renewed efforts for unified Arab political representation ahead of upcoming elections.
Emboldened by the U.S.-backed removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is quietly searching for Cuban government insiders willing to cut a deal that could end Communist rule on the island by year’s end, according to a Wall Street Journal exclusive.