On 25 June, Pakistan’s Supreme Court decided to release the Christian Anwar Kenneth, who had been convicted of blasphemy. The judges ruled that the Catholic Christian from Lahore-Gawalmandi (Punjab province) cannot be held criminally liable. A medical report had certified that the 72-year-old was mentally impaired. His release is planned for the first few days of July. Kenneth had been in custody since 15 June 2001. He was arrested after he contradicted Islamic beliefs in letters that he sent to local clerics, among others.

The German section of the ISHR presented him together with IDEA as ‘Prisoner of the Month’ in May 2023. During the trial, his defense lawyer, Rana Abdul Hameed, referred not only to the Christian’s state of health, but also to his fundamental right to profess his beliefs in public.