Gujranwala: April 28, 2010. (PCP) A court judge in Gujranwala has refused to grant bail to a Christian mother-of-three who stands accused of blasphemy. Rubina Bibi was charged after a dispute with her neighbour, named only as Samina. Rubina had bought a food item from Samina but when she found that it was damaged, had sought a refund. Samina refused to refund her because she was a Christian and had touched the item already. The incident turned into a row and Samina and her relative, a local imam, later brought the charge against Rubina that she had made derogatory comments against the Islamic Prophet Mohammad. CLAAS believes the charges to be trumped up. Its lawyers, Tahir Bashir and Tanveer Gill, argued for Rubina’s bail release before additional judge Abdul Nasir but he refused to grant bail and instead decided to transfer her case to the district session judge of Wazirabad. We strongly believe that her case should not be moved to another city and that the Gujranwala judge has only made this decision because of pressure from local Muslim groups and imams. CLAAS has submitted an application to prevent the transfer of the case to another city. If the case is moved at all, it should be to another judge within the same court or city, or in the very worst case scenario, moved to Lahore. CLAAS UK Director Nasir Saeed says it is common for judges to pass cases on because of pressure from Muslims. He has witnessed occasions where mobs have gathered outside a court during a hearing on a blasphemy case simply to pressure the judge. Judges are often reluctant to make any decision and it is not uncommon for them to refuse to grant bail simply so that the case can be moved on to the high court in Lahore. Until now, the vast majority of blasphemy cases have been decided by high court judges. Sometimes commando forces have been deployed outside the court to protect victims, lawyers and relatives as Muslims take the cases very seriously and often become aggravated. Rubina is currently being held in prison with her one-year-old son while the rest of her family have gone into hiding out of concern for their lives.