Charges against Rimsha Masih of
burning Quran have been thrown out
after police accused cleric of framing
her.
Pakistan court has thrown out
charges against a young Christian girl
accused of blasphemy in a case that
drew international condemnation,
lawyers said.
Rimsha Masih spent three weeks on
remand in an adult jail after she was
arrested on August 16 for allegedly
burning pages from the Quran.
She was released on bail in
September and police have since told
the courts that she was not guilty and
that a cleric who allegedly framed her
should face trial instead.
"The court has quashed the case,
declaring Rimsha innocent," her
lawyer Akmal Bhatti told the AFP news
agency.
Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, a
cleric who first gave police the burned
papers as evidence against her, was
detained on September 1 for
desecrating the Quran and tampering
with evidence.
An official medical report classified
Rimsha as "uneducated" and aged 14,
but with a mental age younger than
her years.
Others have said she is as young as
11-years-old and suffers from Down's
Syndrome.
Paul Bhatti, the only Christian member
of Pakistan's federal cabinet,
confirmed that the case had been
thrown out by the high court in the
capital Islamabad.
"I welcome this order. Justice has
been done and the law of the land
has been upheld by the court," he
told AFP.
"It will send out a positive image of
Pakistan in the international
community that there is justice for all
and that society has risen up for
justice and tolerance," he added.
Rimsha and her family, who have
been in fear for their lives since the
allegations, were moved to an
undisclosed location after her release
on bail on September 8.
Aljazeera
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