Saturday, March 26, 2011

Pakistan Moves Ahead With Cse Against 17 Year-Old Accused Of "Blasphemy" On School Physics Exam

From Jihad Watch:

Pakistan moves ahead with case against 17-year-old accused of "blasphemy" on school exam


"It was reported by a professor that he wrote some blasphemous remarks in the answer sheets of Physics and Islamic Studies papers."



And so authorities threw the book at Syed Samiullah, complete with recourse to a handwriting expert and psychiatric evaluations. The latter may save him from the blasphemy laws' death sentence, but mark him for the rest of his life as "mentally ill" at only 17. An update on this story. "Blasphemy suspect’s trial to start on 29th," by Ishaq Tanoli for Dawn, March 20:



KARACHI, March 19: A judicial magistrate on Saturday treated an interim charge-sheet filed against a teenage blasphemy suspect as the final one and sent it to the district and sessions court (east) for trial, which will commence on March 29.

The court had granted two opportunities to the investigation officer of the case, but he failed to submit the final charge-sheet.

The suspect, Syed Samiullah, has been booked in a case pertaining to allegedly making some blasphemous remarks in answer sheets of his intermediate examination in April last year.

The investigation officer of the case, Additional Superintendent of Police Misal Khan, submitted the interim charge-sheet under Section 173 of the criminal procedure code in court on March 10.

The IO sought more time to file a final charge-sheet as reports of a handwriting expert and a medical examination to determine the suspect’s mental condition had not yet been received. The magistrate allowed his plea and granted four more days. [...]

The suspect is likely to be indicted by a sessions court on March 29.

According to the interim charge-sheet, the controller of examination of the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi (BIEK) in his written complaint stated that the suspect appeared in the first year science group annual examination 2010 and it was reported by a professor that he wrote some blasphemous remarks in the answer sheets of Physics and Islamic Studies papers.

CSI Karachi:



It stated that a writing sample from the suspect was collected in court and sent it to the handwriting expert along with the copies of the answer sheets for an analysis. An initial medical examination of the suspect was conducted in the psychiatry ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi since one of his uncles said that the suspect was mentally ill, it added.

The IO further stated in the interim charge-sheet that he also made a request to the court concerned for shifting of the suspect from prison to a hospital for his proper medical examination.

He placed 16 prosecution witnesses in the interim-charge-sheet.

The 17-year-old suspect was picked up by the police from his Malir residence on Jan 28.

A case (FIR 165/2011) was registered against the suspect under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Sharea Faisal police station....Posted by Marisol on March 21, 2011 3:50 AM

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