PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN ON DEATH ROW AWAITS VERDICT
Ayub Masih's Supreme Court Appeal Could be Heard Before September
by Barbara G. Baker
ISTANBUL, June 19 (Compass)
The Supreme Court of Pakistan went into its official summer recess last week, dousing hopes that Christian death-row prisoner Ayub Masih's final judicial appeal might be heard before sessions resume in September.
Then two days ago, judges of both the Supreme and High Courts of Pakistan issued an official notice that they had agreed to continue working through at least half of the recess period. According to yesterday's "Dawn" newspaper, the Supreme and High Court justices "unanimously agreed to surrender at least six weeks of their vacation to hear and dispose of the urgent as well as old cases."
The office of Masih's defense lawyer, Abid Hassan Minto, confirmed to Compass today that the high-profile Christian prisoner's appeal could still be called up before the Supreme Court during the summer months, although it was not very likely.
Jailed since October 1996, Masih was accused of slandering the Muslim prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim neighbor. Based on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness, his execution sentence was handed
down in April 1998 by the Sahiwal Sessions Court.
His conviction was upheld last July by the Multan High Court, leaving one final appeal before the Supreme Court. Now 35, he has survived two attempts on his life while under trial and spent the last four years on death row.
Masih's verdict from the nation's highest appellate court will hinge on a single hearing. His client, currently incarcerated in Multan's New Central Jail, will not attend the hearing.
During previous hearings against Masih, extremist Muslim protestors packed
the courtrooms of the Sahiwal Sessions Court and Multan High Court, shouting death threats against the defense lawyers and presiding panel of judges. To date, five Christian defendants have been killed while under trial for blasphemy in Pakistan, as well as one High Court judge who overturned convictions against two Christians.
Minto said he expects Ayub Masih to be acquitted on technical grounds, since the requirements for pre-trial examination of the prosecution witnesses required under Islamic law had been ignored at lower court levels.
"In the post-trial situation, we can see that the land Ayub Masih and his family were living on has been taken over by the complainant," Minto noted. This fact alone, he said, was clear evidence that Masih's accuser was motivated by personal monetary gain.
"If the court accepts this, then Ayub Masih must be acquitted," Minto concluded.
None of the 10 other Christians currently jailed on patently false blasphemy charges in Pakistan have been given the death penalty, although several are appealing verdicts condemning them to life in prison.
"Once a person is given the title of 'blasphemer,' he is not safe any more, anywhere in Pakistan," one Christian rights advocate remarked in May.
Ayub Masih's Supreme Court Appeal Could be Heard Before September
by Barbara G. Baker
ISTANBUL, June 19 (Compass)
The Supreme Court of Pakistan went into its official summer recess last week, dousing hopes that Christian death-row prisoner Ayub Masih's final judicial appeal might be heard before sessions resume in September.
Then two days ago, judges of both the Supreme and High Courts of Pakistan issued an official notice that they had agreed to continue working through at least half of the recess period. According to yesterday's "Dawn" newspaper, the Supreme and High Court justices "unanimously agreed to surrender at least six weeks of their vacation to hear and dispose of the urgent as well as old cases."
The office of Masih's defense lawyer, Abid Hassan Minto, confirmed to Compass today that the high-profile Christian prisoner's appeal could still be called up before the Supreme Court during the summer months, although it was not very likely.
Jailed since October 1996, Masih was accused of slandering the Muslim prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim neighbor. Based on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness, his execution sentence was handed
down in April 1998 by the Sahiwal Sessions Court.
His conviction was upheld last July by the Multan High Court, leaving one final appeal before the Supreme Court. Now 35, he has survived two attempts on his life while under trial and spent the last four years on death row.
Masih's verdict from the nation's highest appellate court will hinge on a single hearing. His client, currently incarcerated in Multan's New Central Jail, will not attend the hearing.
During previous hearings against Masih, extremist Muslim protestors packed
the courtrooms of the Sahiwal Sessions Court and Multan High Court, shouting death threats against the defense lawyers and presiding panel of judges. To date, five Christian defendants have been killed while under trial for blasphemy in Pakistan, as well as one High Court judge who overturned convictions against two Christians.
Minto said he expects Ayub Masih to be acquitted on technical grounds, since the requirements for pre-trial examination of the prosecution witnesses required under Islamic law had been ignored at lower court levels.
"In the post-trial situation, we can see that the land Ayub Masih and his family were living on has been taken over by the complainant," Minto noted. This fact alone, he said, was clear evidence that Masih's accuser was motivated by personal monetary gain.
"If the court accepts this, then Ayub Masih must be acquitted," Minto concluded.
None of the 10 other Christians currently jailed on patently false blasphemy charges in Pakistan have been given the death penalty, although several are appealing verdicts condemning them to life in prison.
"Once a person is given the title of 'blasphemer,' he is not safe any more, anywhere in Pakistan," one Christian rights advocate remarked in May.
