TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2003
Pak police arrest Muslim clerk on blasphemy charges
AP
MULTAN: Authorities in central Pakistan arrested a junior government official on charges of blasphemy on Monday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Islam's Prophet Mohammed and the Quran holy book, police said on Monday.
Nadeem Asghar Shah, a clerk at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Dera Ghazi Khan, 130 kilometres west of Multan, was arrested from his office, police official Mohammed Afzal told the press. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
Shah, a Muslim, was taken into custody after his boss, Zahid Hussain, lodged a complaint with the regional police, Afzal said. He said police are holding Shah at an undisclosed location, while they conduct their investigation.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws have come under criticism by international and Pakistani human rights groups that object to the death penalty and say the laws are easily abused. The burden of proof is generally on the accused to prove his innocence.
In Pakistan, hardline Islamic militants often make it difficult for a court to release a person accused of blasphemy, by issuing threats and staging protest demonstrations. In many cases, accused persons have been killed or injured by the militants. There are hundreds of people in jail in Pakistan charged under the blasphemy laws.
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