Chinese man arrested on blasphemy charges released on bail

• Chinese worker shifted to undisclosed location.
• JIT presents statements of accusers and suspect. 
• Ulema Jirga's member seeks action against person who levelled false accusations.

MANSEHRA: A Chinese national arrested on blasphemy charges has been released on bail by an Abbottabad anti-terrorism court, The News reported. 

Judge Sajjad Ahmad Jan ordered the release of the foreigner — working on the Dasu hydropower project in Kohistan district — who had been taken into custody after a mob accused him of having committed blasphemy earlier this month.

The Chinese worker was released from police custody and shifted to an undisclosed location on orders of the ATC judge in return for Rs200,000 in a local bank as surety bonds. 

The counsels for the suspect including Atif Ali Jadoon, Mohammad Arif Masud and the deputy public persecutor were present in the court. They pleaded that their client was not guilty.

During the hearing, the Chinese national was not produced before the judge because of security reasons.

The joint investigation team (JIT) presented the records of the accusers and the Chinese man in the court.

Kamila Station House Officer Naseerudden, who is the main complainant in the case, appeared in court with the relevant records.

The judge in his order said that labourers, including Gulistan, Shafi, Qadir and translator Yasir, got registered the first information report (FIR) in the case after two days on April 17 as the incident occurred on April 15.

They could neither produce testimonials in support of their charges nor could they prove charges in their respective statements before the JIT and narrated the hearsay story.

The judge in his order said that the translator (Yasir ) was 35/40 feet away from a Chinese man who is the head of the heavy transports at the Dasu Dam Project at the time of occurrence and labourer Gulistan presumed that the latter uttered the sacrilegious remarks.

“Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code [PPC] says whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation or by any imputation or innuendo or insinuation directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to be fined that in light of the available record,” the judge said in the order.

“The case of accused petitioner not comes within the ambit of the reasonable ground; that the accused petitioner is a foreigner and came here for his services at the Dasu Dam Project in Kohistan that a procession by the people of locality (Upper Kohistan) was the result of misunderstanding as a result of which whereof the local police station in Kohistan concocted this false case against Chinese national while according to available record, no such offence was committed by the accused and hence granted the bail," he added. 

The FIR of the incident was registered at Kamila Police Station, Upper Kohistan, under Sections 295-C of the PPC and Section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Maulana Waliullah Tohidi, a member of Ulema Jirga constituted by the local clerics after the incident to oversee the Chinese national blasphemy case, said the release of the Chinese national was a judicial matter and they accepted it wholeheartedly but said the translator Yasir who levelled false accusations against the latter should be taken to justice under the relevant sections of the law as he instigated locals Kohistanis to come onto streets.

“We (Kohistanis) are patriotic Pakistani and would never allow anybody within the country or outside to sabotage the Dasu Hydropower Project at any cost,” he said.

The sources in JIT told The News that the Chinese national accused of blasphemy would be sent back to his country as soon as this case wraps up.