Pakistan absolves bloggers of blasphemy charges

Five Pakistani activists who made international headlines when they went missing earlier this year were cleared of blasphemy charges yesterday, a lawyer said, a hugely sensitive and potentially deadly issue in the conservative Muslim country.

The men, who used social media to stand against religious intolerance and at times criticised Pakistan's powerful military, vanished within days of each other in January, sparking fears of a state crackdown.

Four of them have since been released, with some accusing their captors of torture. No group claimed responsibility for their abduction, and Pakistan's government and military have denied involvement.

But during their disappearance, a virulent social media campaign to paint them as blasphemers began, The result is often self-censorship, and in the wake of the allegations, a number of liberal commentators shut down their accounts completely.

Ahmad Waqass Goraya, one of the activists who was released and lives in the Netherlands, told AFP the court should now investigate why Pakistan's mainstream media repeated the dangerous claims against him without proof.