Pakistan: 'Anwer Masih has been acquitted of blasphemy in Lahore, making him the first Pakistani Christian ever acquitted of such charges in Pakistan’s lower courts. Judicial Magistrate Dr. Mohammed Anwar Gondal ruled on December 17 that the accusations against Masih were based only on hearsay evidence and that the police report filed against Masih was nullified because it violated the criminal procedure code. Masih, now 32, was arrested on November 30, 2003. A neighbor who had converted from Christianity to Islam claimed that Masih had mocked his new beard and derided Islamic beliefs. Although cleared of blasphemy charges, Masih remains in hiding, unable to be reunited with his wife and four children because extremists from the Islamic Religious Army have vowed to kill him. He joins more than a dozen other Pakistani Christians who, despite their innocence, have been forced to apply for asylum abroad to live under new identities.' (Compass Direct)