Pakistani court acquits suspects of burning Christian homes

LAHORE, Pakistan — A defense lawyer says a court has acquitted all 155 of his clients who were accused of torching homes in a Christian neighborhood. Ghulam Murtaza said Sunday that anti-terrorism court judge Chaudhry Azam acquitted his clients due to a lack of eyewitness testimony against them. An enraged mob torched dozens of houses in the Joseph Colony neighborhood in Lahore in March 2013. Prosecutor Waqar Bhatti said the government will appeal the verdict. World News Alerts Breaking news from around the world. Sign up The mob torched the houses following allegations of blasphemy against a Christian man who was accused of insulting Islam’s prophet at a barber shop. No one was hurt in the attack as Christian residents had already left their homes in fear. The government quickly rebuilt the homes and compensated the residents. Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.