Pakistan - Blasphemy Court Frees Christians, Anger

(27 Feb 1995) T/I 10:36:15 STORY: ACQUITTAL LOCATION: PAKISTAN DATE: 23-24 FEBRUARY 1995 DURATION: 1.25 Blasphemy court frees Christians, angers Muslims Militant Islamic leaders called for the death of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during demonstrations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday (24/2), after the Lahore High Court dismissed blasphemy charges against two Christians, one a 14-year-old boy. He and his uncle had been sentenced to death allegedly for insulting Islam by daubing grafitti on a mosque. They were acquitted on appeal when the court accepted that there was no concrete evidence against them, or indeed that any crime had ever taken place. Fundamentalist Muslim reaction was swift. Hundreds of protestors marched through Lahore and pelted the High Court with stones. A number of traffic lights were smashed and debris littered the streets, but the crowd was smaller than many had expected. Salamat Masih, 14, and his uncle, Rehmat Masih, were accused of charges that they scrawled anti-Islamic graffiti on a mosque wall, a crime that carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan. In a 32-page written judgement, Lahore High Court Justices Arif Iqbal Bhatti and Chaudhry Khurshid Ahmed dismissed the blasphemy charges after the cleric who made them withdrew, claiming his own life had been threatened. Witnesses said the graffitti had been quickly removed, but refused to testify what it said, because they were afraid of their Muslim colleagues turning on them for repeating the blasphemy. SHOWS: (RAWALPINDI, 24/2) Protestors walking by and chanting. CU protestors chanting. Crowd around burning pile. Police running, pull out to to WS from high viewpoint. Scuffles between police and demonstrators. Demonstrators moving back. Aerial of tear gas going off. Aerial of police running down road. (LAHORE, 24/2) Aerial WS of mosque with minaret. Worshippers kneeling to pray. Demonstrators with banner. WS of police firing tear gas at demonstrators in background. More of police and demonstrators throwing stones and tear gas. Police advancing along road with shields. Boy throwing stone, with tear gas on empty road. (LAHORE, 23/2) Demonstrators with banners outside courthouse. Exterior of courthouse. MS lawyers leaving court. Worshippers outside mosque on road. People riding by on bike along road. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...