ICC Note:
In a recent report by Amnesty International, entitled “As Good As Dead”, the human rights organization outlines the dangers faced by those accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. Often, Christians are falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan and are forced to endure the dangerous situation the follows an accusations. As described by Forgotten Missionaries International’s Bruce Allen, Christians accused and even their families fear mob violence following a blasphemy accusation, even if it is clearly false.  
01/10/2017 Pakistan (Mission Network News) – The principle “innocent until proven guilty” is not practiced in Pakistan when it comes to their blasphemy laws. In fact, according to a recent report by Amnesty International, these laws are used to punish Christians in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons.
When a Christian is accused of blasphemy, evidence doesn’t matter. They can be arrested and be unjustly imprisoned for years as their trials continue to get pushed off.
The most famous example of this is Asia Bibi, who has been waiting for years to face a fair trial in court. The most recent appeals hearing, scheduled last year, was canceled when the judge refused to show.
FMI’s Bruce Allen says even if Asia Bibi is released, she will have to flee the country or face certain death. Her story accompanies many others.
“There are hundreds of Pakistanis imprisoned falsely under blasphemy laws. In even more recent days, there was a Pakistani Christian who at the end of December, right before New Year’s, was arrested because people said they found ripped up pages of the Koran in front of his home, and his name was on those pages.”
Allen says the police ignored the fact that things didn’t quite match up. Why would a Christian spend what little money they had on the Koran, and why would they commit a crime punishable by death, and put their name all over it?
The man’s family was also arrested. Police said it was for their own protection, which Allen says isn’t totally a bogus claim. Many times when it is known that someone was arrested for blasphemy, their family becomes a target too. As Allen puts it, angry mobs don’t wait for the gears of justice to turn.
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