Religious Freedom Commissioner appointed by U.S. President Trump has called on Pakistan to release Ahmadi bookseller that has been behind bars for the past four years.
Johnnie Moore, Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has called on Pakistan to immediately release Abdul Shakoor, an Ahmadiyya Muslim book seller. Pakistani authorities arrested Shakoor in December 2015 for selling an Ahmadiyya commentary on the Qur’an.
In a statement issued on February 26, 2019, Commissioner Moore said:
“I call on Pakistan to immediately release Mr. Shakoor and, in the spirit of Pakistan’s founders more than 60 years ago, respect religious freedom.”
Commissioner Moore added:
“This is the third year in an eight-year sentence for the 82-year-old Abdul Shakoor, an innocent bookseller in Pakistan. USCIRF again condemns the charges levied against Mr. Shakoor, as well as the state-sponsored, legalized discrimination against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community,”
In a tweet he also called on Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure justice for Ahmadis.
I have been – & remain – very optimistic a/b @ImranKhanPTI in Pakistan, & one of the ways he can prove his reform agenda is real – taking the country back to the era he fondly describes is…
Promote Tolerance
Embrace Religious Freedom
Guard Minorities (including the Ahmadiyya)— Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) March 1, 2019
Pakistan’s judicial system needs to release this elderly Ahmadiyya bookseller & it’s high time they begin to treat this community w/dignity they deserve.
The discrimination has become so pronounced the nation has basically disowned its only Nobel laureate just b/c he was Ahmadi. https://t.co/9iroZ3x6Fl
— Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) March 1, 2019
On February 26, 2016, seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to then Secretary of State John Kerry seeking his support for the release of Abdul Shakoor and a jailed Ahmadiyya newspaper editor, Tahir Mehdi.