LAHORE, Pakistan -- An appeals court yesterday overturned the conviction of two Christians, one a 14-year-old boy, on charges of blasphemy against Islam, a crime that carries a mandatory death penalty.
Outside the courtroom, dozens of Muslim militants demanded revenge and began throwing stones when the decision was announced. Some militants vowed to kill the defendants, along with the judges and lawyers in the case.
"Not only will we come out on the streets, but we will also take extreme steps," warned Hafiz Ahmed Baksh, secretary-general of the militant Sunni Muslim group known as the Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet.
Police in riot gear and armed with automatic rifles swarmed over the court, taking positions on rooftops, forming a human chain around the sprawling premises and standing guard at its four entrances.
Salamat Masih, 14, and Rehmat Masih, 40, had been convicted Feb. 9 of scrawling anti-Islamic slogans on the wall of a mosque in a Punjabi village. The two defendants, who are not related, were sentenced to be hanged.
A two-judge panel of the Lahore High Court said there was no evidence to support the verdict. The slogans the Masihs allegedly wrote were immediately erased. During the trial, witnesses for the prosecution refused to repeat the offensive words on grounds of "sanctity."
Though defense attorneys protested the lack of proof, the trial judge ruled that the allegations were so serious that no pious Muslim would falsely make them.
In reversing the convictions, appellate Judge Arif Iqbal Bhatti said it appeared "some elements were trying to create provocation and mischief around the case." The court's verdict was in line with Muslim ideals of justice, he said.
The High Court ordered the release of the defendants, who are now in prison. But their defense lawyer said she feared for their lives.
A third Christian man charged in the incident was murdered outside the Lahore court in April. Rehmat and Salamat Masih were wounded.
The convictions greatly alarmed Pakistan's Christian minority, which held prayer services Wednesday night in support of the accused.
After the reversal, Joseph Francis, a Christian human rights activist, said, "This decision has restored the confidence of minorities."
The case also highlighted Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's difficulty in dealing with fundamentalists in her overwhelmingly Muslim nation and threatened to embarrass her during her April visit to the United States.
Rashid Murtaza Qureshi, a prosecution lawyer, charged Ms. Bhutto with putting pressure on the Lahore High Court judges, and said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Qureshi also accused Pakistani Christians of being "hand-in-glove" with Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie, who is under an Iranian death sentence for alleged anti-Islamic writings.
"We won't allow non-Muslims to destabilize the country," Mr. Qureshi said.
Ms. Bhutto, who professed shock at the death sentences, has said she is taking new steps to amend the 1986 law to make it less liable to be abused. She had to retreat after proposing similar changes last year when there was an outcry from Muslim extremists.