Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that Munawar
Mohsin, a former subeditor of the national daily Frontier Post,
has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Northwest Frontier
Province on charges of blasphemy.
On July 8 in Peshawar, the capital of Northwest Frontier Province, sessions
court judge Sardar Irshad convicted Mohsin of blasphemy and sentenced
him to life in prison for publishing a letter to the editor titled "Why
Muslims Hate Jews," which included derogatory references to the Prophet
Mohammed. Judge Irshad acquitted two other former Frontier Post staffers—then
news editor Aftab Ahmad and computer operator Wajihul Hassan—but ruled
that, "The evidence on the record reflects [that the] accused Munawar
has intentionally and willfully committed an offense under the Pakistan
Penal Code."
However, lawyers and journalists present during the proceedings told
CPJ that there was no evidence to support the contention that Mohsin
published the offensive letter intentionally, a crucial element in determining
criminal culpability. On the contrary, in testimony given before a magistrate
soon after his arrest on January 29, 2001, Mohsin admitted that he had
published the letter by mistake, without reading the full text carefully.
In an interview with The New York Times, he said that
he "could never think of abusing our Holy Prophet" but admitted that,
having only recently completed a drug rehabilitation program, he had
not been able to focus fully on his editorial responsibilities.
CPJ is also worried about the safety of Frontier Post managing
editor Mahmood Shah Afridi, who was also charged and has gone into hiding.
Judge Irshad issued a warrant for Afridi's arrest for failing to appear
before the court to face the charge against him.
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending
our colleagues worldwide, CPJ believes the Pakistani government should
never have brought criminal charges against the Frontier Post journalists.
On January 30, 2001, the day after the letter was published, the Post
placed prominent advertisements on the front pages of the country's
major Urdu- and English-language dailies, noting that it "profoundly
regrets the publication . . . of highly blasphemous material masquerading
as a letter to the editor."
Despite the paper's unequivocal public apology, religious groups staged
violent demonstrations, with some protestors calling for the journalists
to be executed. In one particularly disturbing incident, hundreds of
demonstrators gathered outside the Frontier Post's offices and
set fire to the building housing the paper's printing press.
As CPJ noted in an open letter to Your Excellency at the time, the punitive
action by the government against the Frontier Post journalists
was unwarranted in light of the paper's unequivocal apology and only
heightened the dangers for newspaper staff.
Even when, in March 2001, a judicial inquiry into the Frontier Post
case determined that the offending letter was published due to negligence
and not to any malicious intent, provincial authorities decided to proceed
with the criminal prosecution against the journalists.
CPJ therefore strongly urges Your Excellency to pardon Munawar Mohsin
immediately, and to instruct provincial authorities to withdraw the
arrest warrant against Mahmood Shah Afridi.
We also respectfully remind Your Excellency of your earlier pledge to
reform Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which have been used to persecute
journalists and religious minorities, and we encourage you to revisit
this issue.
We thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and await your
response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
