Pakistani Court Overturns Two Blasphemy Convicitions

Compass Direct News reported yesterday that two elderly Christian men convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan have had their convictions overturned by a high court in Lahore. Last Thursday the court reversed the 10-year sentences of 67-year old James Masih and 72-year old Buta Masih who had been accused of burning pages from the Quran. They were also charged with terrorism- related offenses of creating fear and panic. The men say that the charges were fabricated as part of a dispute over land that a Muslim neighbor wanted James Masih to sell. Police arrested the two men in October 2006 as a group of 500 Muslims who had heard rumors of the Quran burning tried to kill the men. They men have already served over two years of their terms.