Race to take credit

By – Shamim Masih

ISLAMABAD: Since Zafar Bhatti, accused of blasphemy case confined in central jail Adayla, Rawalpindi is being reported in main stream media, individuals and non-government organizations are in race to take the credit for representing his case.

Today the court adjourned the case hearing till October 15, 2014 due to the absence of his co-accused Ghazala Khan. Parvaiz Khan, legal representative of Zafar Bhatti and Ghazala Khan said that he presented the medical certificate of his client and the Additional Session Judge Muhammad Iqbal Chadhar adjourned the case hearing and fixed the next court hearing for 15^th October, 

accepting her medical certificate and advised him to bring her in the court for next hearing.

According to the details major media outlets reported earlier that Zafar Bhatti and Muhammad Asghar were shot in the prison and one of them was killed and other was injured and was taken to the hospital. I said and reported that the earlier media reports were erroneous. Zafar Bhatti was not shot but only Asghar Ali, the shooting was not fatal and he was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition. From the Western point of view it shooting in Adayla Jail was worse because Muhammad Yousaf was a police constable and was supposed to be their Guard.

Power of attorney duly attested by officials

Basharat Khokhar, human rights activist said he had engaged a lawyer Parvaiz Khan for the case that had been hijacked by Joseph Francis. He claimed that Parvaiz Khan is his lawyer.

I roughly reported that CLAAS is doing squat for Zafar Bhatti. As there are many reports that many so called rights champions and non-government organizations in Pakistan pitching for donations deceptively and then using the funds to line personal pockets. As soon as this report was printed in different Western media outlets, Joseph Francis, chief of CLAAS threatened me and declared me “so called journalist and black mailer” and his mercenaries made a phone call from the mobile number +92 300 442 0154 at 1530 Hrs on October 01,2014, he also abused me and said that if I write something against CLAAS, then will face dare consequences.

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Today both claimed that they were in the court and other party was absent. I am posting both powers of attorney, one is from Parvaiz Khan, which is duly singed by Zafar Bhatti and attested by the Deputy Superintendent Jail and the other one is from Tahir Bashir lawyer of CLAAS, which seems fake, with forged sign and without legal stamp by the jail authorities.

This is the attitude of the human rights champion Joseph France and his non-government organization CLAAS towards the reporters and its work, who write and report when you use these sort of case to “mint more money” instead service to the community.