By Jibran Ahmad
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -A Chinese national in Pakistan has denied an accusation of blasphemy levelled by fellow workers on a hydropower project who said he had insulted the Prophet Mohammad, police said on Tuesday after a court remanded him in judicial custody.
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous people have been lynched by outraged mobs after being accused of it, including a man in February and a Sri Lankan factory manager in 2021.
A Pakistani governor and a minister have also been shot and killed in recent years for attempting to seeking amendments to local blasphemy laws.
The Chinese man was brought before a court late on Monday where he said he had been falsely accused, police official Tahir Ayub told Reuters.
The court sent the man to jail on judicial remand for 14 days, he said, adding that police were not identifying him for his own safety.
The Chinese foreign ministry said its mission in Islamabad was verifying the situation regarding its national.
“The Chinese government has always required overseas Chinese citizens to abide by the laws and regulations of the host country and respect local customs,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said at Tuesday’s news briefing.
“If this issue does involve a Chinese citizen, the embassy will provide consular protection and assistance within the scope of its duties,” he said.
The alleged insult took place at the site of a hydropower project in the northwestern district of Kohistan on Sunday. Workers accused the man of using derogatory remarks against the prophet, police said.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan and its workers have on occasion been attacked by militants fighting the Pakistani government.
Islamist militants were accused of a suicide bomb attack on a bus in 2021 that killed nine Chinese national working on the same hydropower project.
“The security of Chinese nationals is already quite high and the local administration is doing everything to ensure their safety,” said police official Saleem Khan.
Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are sometimes made to settle scores and hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused of it as judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as too lenient.
(Writing and additional reporting by Asif Shahzad, and Laurie Chen in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel and Christina Fincher)