ICC Note:
A Christian teenager from Pakistan accused of committing blasphemy by allegedly liking something on his Facebook profile has been denied bail by Pakistani courts. Nabeel Masih, age 16, was accused of liking a photo of the Kaaba on his Facebook with a pig’s head on the Islamic holy site. Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan are disproportionately accused of blasphemy, often falsely. Often, these false accusations are motivated by personal score settling or religious hatred. 
02/15/2017 Pakistan (The Christian Times) – A magistrate’s court in Pakistan has rejected the bail application of a Christian teenager who was accused of blasphemy for allegedly insulting Islam on social media.
Nabeel Masih, 16, was arrested and charged with blasphemy in September after a photo of the Kaaba in Mecca, one of Islam’s holiest sites, appeared on his Facebook profile. The image reportedly showed the Kaaba with a pig’s head on top. The complainant, Akhtar Ali, claimed that Masih “liked” and shared the image on Facebook.
Masih’s lawyers argued that he should be granted bail because he is underage and has no prior convictions. However, the court in Kasur, south of Lahore, rejected the bail application on Feb. 7, World Watch Monitor reported.
In October, the lawyers were reportedly intimidated by the supporters of the complainants when they went to the Appeal Court.
Aneeqa Maria Anthony, head of the legal team representing Masih, said that a mob of about 80 people threatened Masih and his family when they appeared in court.
Amin Muzammal Chaudhry, the complainant’s lawyer, reportedly warned Anthony against defending the teenager.
“These are Muslim courts, so you should not defend such a criminal. You people come here from Lahore to pursue this case, but there are many people here whom you cannot see, so you better watch yourself and stay away,” Chaudry allegedly told Anthony.
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