Gender: Male

Current Location: Camp Jail, Lahore

Perpetrator: Pakistan

Religion or Belief: Muslim – Ahmadiyya

Reports of Torture: No

Reports of Medical Neglect: No

Date of Detainment: September/29/2020

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment

Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Blasphemy (Religious Texts) Religious Belief

Nature of Charges: Blasphemy Conversion Hate Speech

Malik Zaheer Ahmad

Extra Bio Info:

Malik Zaheer Ahmad is detained for blasphemy.

On September 29, 2020, authorities initially arrested Ahmad in relation to a blasphemy-related incident.

On February 23, 2021, Ahmad was granted bail.  However, on February 27, 2021, the day he was supposed to be released from prison, authorities arrested him in relation to another blasphemy case that he reportedly had no connection to.

On July 15, 2021, the trial court announced that Ahmad had been charged with "inciting interfaith hatred" (Sec. 11 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016), "intending to outrage religious feelings" (Sec. 295-A PPC), "desecrating the Qur'an" (Sec. 295-B PPC), "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C PPC), and "posing as Muslim" (Sec. 298-C PPC).