A Punjab judge convicted Mansha of blasphemy and sent him to life in prison in 2009. His conviction was upheld in 2014 and the supreme court took up the case the same year.
Source/Credit: ABC News / Associated Press
By Zarar khan | December 30, 2017
Pakistan's supreme court exonerated a man convicted of blasphemy after he served nine years of a life sentence in prison.
A two-judge panel of the court ruled on Friday that Mohammad Mansha was falsely accused, citing lack of evidence,
According to court records, Mansha, 58, was arrested in September 2008 after the imam of a mosque in the Bahawalnagar district in Punjab province told authorities that Mansha had desecrated a copy of the Quran.
A Punjab judge convicted Mansha of blasphemy and sent him to life in prison in 2009. His conviction was upheld in 2014 and the supreme court took up the case the same year.
Mansha's defense attorney, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said his client was arrested on a complaint from a man who was suffering from hearing and speech impairments. He said evidence from such a witness has no legal value under the Evidence Act.
Mansha's attorney said that following the complaint, his client was presented before a village council where he was badly beaten then handed over to police. The police registered the case under the country's harsh blasphemy law based on the complaint of the Imam Hafiz Muhammad Munir. The hearing and speech impaired Akhtar Mohammad became the star witness.
Read original post here: Pakistan: Man exonerated after serving 9 years for blasphemy
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