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
President Donald Trump warned Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that the United States is prepared to take military action if the terrorist group follows through on its threat to blockade Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
Hungarian authorities on Tuesday raided a data center used by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in a major corruption investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds during his 16 years in office.
President Donald Trump’s senior political advisers gathered in Washington on Tuesday to review polling, messaging, and campaign strategy ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, according to an exclusive report by Axios.
The U.S. Treasury Department has blocked approximately $99 million in federal payments intended for people who were already dead, officials announced Tuesday.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledged Tuesday that his country would work to permanently end hostilities with Israel, appealing to President Donald Trump for political and military support as Beirut seeks to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.
President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the United States may soon strike Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex amid reports that Tehran transferred thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges—and potentially part of its highly enriched uranium stockpile—to the secretive underground site.
China and the Philippines have accused each other of provoking a violent confrontation in contested South China Sea waters.