Pakistan court orders release of Chinese national arrested on blasphemy charges

A Chinese national arrested in Pakistan on charges of committing blasphemy has been set free and shifted to an undisclosed location after he was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court

A Chinese national arrested in Pakistan on charges of committing blasphemy has been set free and shifted to an undisclosed location after he was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court, a media report said on Friday.

The court judge in the northwestern city of Abbottabad on Thursday granted the suspect’s bail plea after he furnished a bond of PKR 200,000 as surety.

Quoting from the section pertaining to blasphemy, the judge ruled that the case did not come within the ambit of “reasonable ground” as the blasphemy charge was the “result of a misunderstanding”.

He said the police station concerned in Kohistan had registered a “false case” against the Chinese national.

The court ruled that, according to the record, no such offence was committed by the accused and hence he was granted bail, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Chinese national was arrested in the Upper Kohistan district on April 16 after a mob blocked the Karakoram Highway, accusing him of committing blasphemy while exchanging arguments with labourers over long prayer breaks at the project site.

Two lawyers represented the petitioner in the court. The Chinese national was not brought to the court for security reasons. A deputy public prosecutor was also present in the courtroom, the report said.