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
The FBI obtained phone records belonging to its current director, Kash Patel, during the Biden administration while he was still a private citizen, according to multiple reports confirmed Wednesday.
A Spanish-language evangelical congregation in Houston, Texas, home to one of America’s largest Hispanic communities, is mourning its founding pastor after he was accidentally shot and killed during a reported burglary attempt.
Bill Gates, co-founder of tech giant Microsoft and currently ranked among the world’s wealthiest individuals, told employees this week that he had extramarital affairs during his marriage but denied any involvement in or knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking, according to remarks reviewed by U.S. media outlets.
A Christian sanitation worker in eastern Pakistan has alleged he was brutally beaten while performing municipal cleaning duties in what advocacy groups describe as part of mounting pressure on Christians in the Muslim-majority nation.
The 85th anniversary commemoration of a strike in Amsterdam against the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps was overshadowed Wednesday by pro-Palestine protests and a controversial speech.
Indonesia tried to raise money on international financial markets Wednesday amid concerns over fiscal pressures in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, which recently faced one of its sharpest stock market downturns in decades.
Democrats strongly condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address — the longest in recorded American history, lasting 1 hour and 48 minutes and surpassing the previous record set by former President Bill Clinton.