Anwar Kenneth. (File photo)
LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan today (June 25) ordered the acquittal of an elderly Christian on death row for 24 years on a blasphemy conviction, declaring that a person of unsound mind could not be held liable for such a crime, his lawyer said.
Supreme Court attorney Rana Abdul Hameed said that a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahzad Ahmed Khan and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan acquitted Anwar Kenneth, a 72-year-old Catholic, of the blasphemy allegations.
“It is very unfortunate that an elderly man has languished in various prisons for over two decades despite his mental health condition,” Hameed, a Muslim, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The Supreme Court’s decision to acquit him in view of his mental illness, though after a prolonged delay, will help in highlighting the plight of dozens of other blasphemy prisoners who are also suffering from mental health challenges, yet their cases have been pending for years.”
Hameed lauded the Supreme Court judges for making the right decision despite pressure from lawyers affiliated with various Islamist groups, including the Khatm-e-Nabbuwat (Finality of Prophethood) Lawyers Forum.
“These lawyers and clerics caused a ruckus in the courtroom as soon as the judges announced the acquittal order,” Hameed said. “Kenneth’s acquittal is a big setback to them, as it will have an impact on all blasphemy cases of similar nature.”
He added that the court’s detailed order would be issued in two or three days, paving the way for Kenneth’s release from prison.
A former senior officer in the Punjab Fisheries Department, Kenneth received the death sentence at a trial court in Lahore in July 2002 for sending a letter to Muslim religious scholars, Muslim heads of state, foreign diplomats in Pakistan, the United Nations secretary-general and Christian theologians in 2001 in which he stated that non-Muslims rejected Muhammad’s prophethood.
He was charged under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy statutes, which calls for a mandatory death sentence for insulting Islam’s prophet. The Christian had refused the assistance of a defense lawyer, saying God was his counsel.
The Lahore High Court upheld Kenneth’s death sentence in 2014, though a government-formed medical board informed the court that he was mentally unstable. In his arguments before the Supreme Court, Hameed submitted that the rejection of Muhammad’s prophethood by non-Muslims could not be considered blasphemy.
“Though Islam is one of the three Abrahamic faiths, and Muslims believe in all prophets, including Jesus Christ, Christians and Jews don’t believe in prophet Muhammad,” Hameed stated. “In his open letter, Kenneth merely stated that his Christian belief does not endorse Islam. He hasn’t used any derogatory language for prophet Muhammad that warranted a conviction under blasphemy.”
Kenneth’s appeal against the high court’s decision had lingered for years. On March 12, 2024, the Supreme Court directed the country’s top Islamic body, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), and two Christian bodies – the Pakistan Church Council and the United Church Council of Islamabad – to advise the court on whether content that left the Catholic on death row for over two decades was in fact blasphemous.
A three-member Supreme Court bench in January 2023 noted the need for legal representation for Kenneth and requested that the Pakistan Bar Council provide a defense attorney after five state-provided lawyers recused themselves from the case.
Hameed, who has successfully defended several persons falsely charged with blasphemy, agreed to represent the Christian with the support of advocacy group Jubilee Campaign Netherlands.
Kenneth’s family members had previously told this reporter that he worked as a deputy director in the fisheries department when he was arrested. According to them, Kenneth was a well-educated man with a deep interest in his Christian faith.
“My brother was a Bible scholar and often engaged in scholastic discussions with his Muslim friends and religious leaders,” Kenneth’s 83-year-old elder sister, Reshma Bibi, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News in March 2024. “He also communicated his religious ideas and values through his letter-writing, but he was never disrespectful towards any holy personality. It was one of these letters that was used to silence him.”
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks on blasphemy suspects in recent years. Accusations or mere rumors of blasphemy spark rioting and rampage by Muslim mobs that can escalate into killings. A rights watchdog chronicled a record 344 new blasphemy cases in Pakistan in 2024, highlighting increased abuse of the country’s condemned blasphemy laws.
Of the 344 new blasphemy cases, 70 percent of the accused were Muslims, 6 percent were Christians, 9 percent Hindus and 14 percent Ahmadis, according to the Annual Human Rights Observer report issued by Center for Social Justice (CSJ).
“The blatant weaponization of blasphemy laws continued to enable persecution, religious intolerance and widespread human rights violations,” the report stated.
At least 2,793 persons were formally or informally accused of blasphemy in Pakistan over the past 38 years, 1987 to 2024, according to the report. The report stated that at least 104 persons were killed extra-judicially following blasphemy allegations between 1994 and 2024.
Pakistan, whose population is more than 96 percent Muslim, ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
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- Anwar Kenneth. (File photo)
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