A rights group has hailed a Pakistani court’s granting of bail to a Christian couple accused of blasphemy for allegedly defiling the Quran and called for changes to the Muslim-majority nation’s blasphemy laws.
In a press statement on Oct. 19, Nasir Saeed, director of the UK-based Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) called the judgment a break from the usual “norm” of Pakistan’s judicial system.
“This landmark judgment breaks from the norm, where trial courts often refuse bail, burdening accused individuals with lengthy legal battles that can extend all the way to the Supreme Court,”
He also praised the “courageous decision” of Additional Sessions Court judge, Mian Shahid Javed, for deciding the case “based on merit.”
Judge Javed granted bail to Kiran Bibi and Shaukat on Oct. 18 citing a lack of evidence of “willful damage or defilement of the original text of the Holy Quran” under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Violations of Section 295-B can result in severe penalties, including life imprisonment, for those found guilty of deliberately defiling, damaging, desecrating, or using a copy of the Holy Quran or its extracts in a derogatory manner or for unlawful purposes.
“The court observed several gaps in the detailed report”
The couple was accused of “defiling… [the] a copy of the Holy Quran,” as per the case filed by Muhammad Tamoor who claimed to have witnessed pages flying off the couple’s house on Sept. 8.