Urging Pakistan High Court To Expedite Hearing Case of Christian Sentenced To Hang for His Faith

We have just filed a major petition for an expedited hearing in Pakistan at the Lahore High Court.

Shahzad Masih, a young Christian man who was only 16 years old when he was arrested in  2017 over a false accusation of blasphemy, has spent over six years in prison. Five of those years have been spent waiting for the trial court to announce his fate. During the last year of that trial, he often said of his dire state: “They should just hang me now instead of prolonging this decision.” Now he is on death row, waiting for the High Court to hear his appeal.

The trial court sentenced him to death despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that proved Shahzad was innocent. Even the investigating officer, the Superintendent of Police (a higher police official assigned to oversee the investigation), did not find Shahzad guilty during his investigation. The trial court simply disregarded his testimony.

Members of the Islamic fundamentalist group behind the false accusation were in court on the day the judge announced Shahzad’s fate. The judge was obviously under severe pressure. He even disregarded the prosecution witnesses’ testimony, which, instead of proving Shahzad’s guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt, proved that he did not commit any crime. All of the prosecution witnesses testified that Shahzad had stated that his father’s Muslim friend Ali blasphemed. Based on their testimony, there is no legal question here. Even a layperson can understand that does not constitute a crime.

Of note, a Pakistani judge was killed in the past for acquitting a Christian man accused of committing blasphemy. Many people accused of committing blasphemy have also been murdered. Until recently, every time I saw Shahzad, the fear on his face was obvious. His case is close to my heart, perhaps because my oldest child is his age.

Last month I visited Shahzad again in the prison, and he is in much more hopeful spirits – praying, reading the Bible, and waiting on the Lord. I told him we would soon file an important petition in court.

Yesterday, we submitted the petition to the Lahore High Court, asking for his sentence to be suspended until the court hears Shahzad’s appeal against his conviction. Our arguments in the petition show the clear errors made by the trial court.

Higher courts are usually less vulnerable to societal pressure. We are hoping that the High Court will see that an innocent young man was unlawfully tried as an adult and wrongfully convicted for something that does not constitute a crime, even under the existing blasphemy laws in Pakistan.

Please pray for our team that will be presenting the argument in the next week or so. Also, pray for the judges who will hear the argument that they see the injustice being done to this innocent young man and decide the case on its merits – not under religious prejudice or societal pressure.