In another mockery of justice coming from Pakistan’s infamous legal system, a judge has dropped all charges against 115 Muslims for a mass attack on Christian for allegations of ‘blasphemy against Mohammed’ that burned over 150 Christian homes and saw horrible violence as Muslims mercilessly attacked Christians with rocks and clubs:
A court in Pakistan on Saturday cited lack of evidence to acquit all 115 suspects in the burning of more than 150 houses of Christians in 2013 over alleged blasphemy of the Prophet Muhammad
Chaudhry Muhammad Azam, Lahore’s anti-terrorism court judge, said the prosecutors failed to produce sufficient evidence against the accused, who had been charged under various laws, including the Anti-Terrorism Act, attempted murder, robbery, arson and terrorism, according to The Indian Express.
A prosecution lawyer, however, disputed the judge’s conclusion and was quoted as saying, “This incident not only spread a wave of terrorism in Lahore but also brought a bad to name to Pakistan.”
The March 8, 2013, attack was seen as the largest anti-Christian violence since the attacks in 2009 that killed nine Christians in the town of Gojra in the same province of Punjab.
Police arrested the accused two days after a mob of about 3,000 Muslims armed with sticks, clubs and stones burned at least 150 houses of Christians, a church and shops in the Joseph Colony area in Lahore over allegations that a Christian had made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.
After the incident, a Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, reprimanded the government of Punjab and the province’s police for failing to protect members of the minority community. Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh, a member of the bench, said the violence took place “right under the nose of Punjab Police and there was total inaction.”
The court also said at the time that police at the “highest level” may have been told not to take action when the violence erupted. (source)
Pakistan is notorious for cases such as this, where Christians receive swift and often times terrible “justice” for nothing more than mere allegations of crimes, especially those that “insult Islam.” However, Muslims are given license to commit countless crimes against Christians and when brought to court, often their charges just disappear.