For its part, the non-governmental organization Center for Legal Assistance, Assistance and Agreement (CLAAS), this case “is a reminder of the importance of fair and impartial trials and the risk of false accusations.”
Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS, said Bhagat’s case puts the abuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan back in the spotlight, and warned that “this is not an isolated case.”
Situations like this, he noted, if not properly investigated “can have tragic consequences: some innocent people can spend many years in prison or even be murdered.”
Saeed also recalled the attacks suffered by Christian communities in Jaranwala in August last year, when Muslim mobs burned hundreds of houses and churchesafter accusations of alleged blasphemy against the Koran.