Anwer Masih was acquitted in Lahore last month by a Judicial Magistrate's Court, making him the first Pakistani Christian ever acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan's lower courts. All Christian citizens tried on alleged blasphemy charges in Pakistan over the past two decades have eventually been acquitted through appeals to higher courts. But since the lower courts hearing their cases initially convicted them, they remained in prison on death row for additional years until the verdict was overthrown. Judicial Magistrate Dr. Mohammed Anwar Gondal ruled in the December 17 hearing that the accusations against Masih were based only on hearsay evidence. .... Masih, now 32, was arrested November 30, 2003, and charged with ... "disturbing someone's religious feelings" and slandering a religious prophet. A neighbor of the defendant who had converted from Christianity to Islam claimed that Masih had mocked his new beard and derided Islamic beliefs. The plaintiff now goes by the name of Naseer Ahmed. Masih was held in the Lahore District Jail for six months, until the Lahore High Court noted that no direct evidence had been produced against him and ordered him released on bail on June 4, 2004.
But according to lawyer Justin Gill, representing the Center for Legal Aid and Assistance Settlement in Lahore which defended Masih, his client remains in hiding, unable to be reunited with his wife and four children since his acquittal a month ago. Fanatic extremists from the banned but active Lashkar-e-Mujahideen (Islamic Religious Army) have vowed to kill Masih over his alleged remarks against the prophet Mohammed. In a handwritten threat in Urdu sent to Masih after he was released on bail, the group warned the defendant that only heavy police security at his court hearings on Friday, December 17, had prevented them from shooting him.
"But we will never let you go," the letter said. "We will shoot you whenever we find you alone, since you blasphemed against our holy prophet. We have an earnest desire to kill you because you have infuriated us. We Muslims don't want to see you alive. Someone from our Lashkar-e-Mujahideen will eliminate you one day." ....
While the trial was underway, Masih's accuser once tried to abduct the defendant's young daughters from their school grounds. Masih and his wife have three daughters and a son, ages nine to two years. "I am safe in hiding, but my wife and family, including my parents, have been under pressure because of me," Masih said. ....