SW News: A Pakistan court sentenced a 22-year-old Christian man to death on May 30 after finding him guilty of blasphemy without evidence.

Noman Masih's lawyer, Lazar Allah Rakha, claimed that despite the prosecution's failure to present evidence in support of the blasphemy accusation against him, the session’s court in Punjab Province announced its decision at the New Central Jail in Bahawalpur.

Rakha told Morning Star News, "There was simply no case, so I'm quite unhappy with the conviction. No witnesses the police supplied could support the blasphemy claim against Noman, and there was no evidence against him.”
He claimed that although Masih's trial was over in January, the judge kept delaying the decision under numerous justifications. Section 295-C of Pakistan's blasphemy laws says disrespecting Prophet Muhammad carries a mandatory death sentence. Masih was found guilty of this crime.

"I'm at a loss to understand why Bahawalpur Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Hafeez Rehman condemned Noman instead of acquitting him. There are so many inconsistencies in the case. This is the murder of justice," Rakha said.
The lawyer said that after the court issues its written decision in a day or two, he would file an appeal against the conviction with the Lahore High Court's Bahawalpur Bench within the required seven days. Rakha stated that the Bahawalnagar court's separate blasphemy case against Noman had reached the end of the trial and that a decision was anticipated in June. Noman's father Asghar Masih, a sanitation worker, who is also, stated that although the family was startled by the decision, "we are standing firm in our faith and looking to God for Noman's freedom."

Contrary to what the police claimed, his son was detained in a late-night raid on July 1, 2019, hours after his cousin Sunny Waqas was apprehended on a blasphemy charge by police, 174 kilometres away. Asghar said the allegations in both First Information Reports are without merit. “Noman was sleeping in the house when he was arrested, but the police have alleged that he was in a park showing blasphemous images to 9-10 people.”

He said the family is in need of prayers and financial support.