ICC Note:
The differing results of two court cases in Pakistan have many Christian leaders in the country upset. Unfortunately, it seems that the religious identity of those accused played a significant factor in the court’s decision. Recently, 42 Christians accused of rioting and killing two Muslims following the Youhanadbad church bombings in 2015 were convicted of terrorism. Many Christians in Pakistan claim these convictions were based on little evidence. In contrast, over 100 Muslims were recently acquitted of for 2013 mob attack on the Christian neighborhood of Joseph Colony in Lahore. In that case, the court cited a lack of evidence for its decision in spite of the fact that video and photo evidence is readily available.  
02/24/2017 Pakistan (Christianity Today) – Two of Pakistan’s biggest religious riots have finally gotten their day in court—with strikingly different results.
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore has sentenced 42 Christians for rioting after two churches in Pakistan’s largest Christian neighborhood were bombed in 2015, reports Fides, the news agency of the Vatican.
The ruling comes less than a month after the court acquitted more than 100 Muslims for rampaging through another one of Lahore’s major Christian communities in 2013 over one man’s alleged blasphemy.
The 42 Christians were roughly half of those accused of murder and terrorism after two Muslim men suspected of bombing Sunday services in Youhanabad were killed. The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), an initiative of Pakistan’s Catholic bishops, told Fides that they were disappointed that the church attackers have not been punished.
Also left unpunished were the approximately 112 Muslims who were arrested for ransacking, looting, and setting fire to more than 100 homes in Joseph Colony in 2013. The court found them innocent despite eyewitnesses and videos of the attack, reported World Watch Monitor.
“The evidence was not enough to prove the crime,” said Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Azam.
Cecil Shane Chaudhry, executive director of the NCJP, told UCA News, a Hong Kong-based outlet focused on Asian Catholics that the Joseph Colony ruling was “quite upsetting.”
“Basically, this means that, despite video footage, documents, and pictures of thousands rampaging through Christian properties, the court has not found anyone guilty,” he said. “So mobs are free to do whatever they want.”
The two cases from Lahore, the second-largest city in Pakistan, stand in stark contrast to the promise of Pakistan’s prime minister last month that the country will soon “better the lives of minority groups.”
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