Death sentence of Christian woman convicted of 'blasphemy' overturned in Pakistan
Pakistan's Supreme Court has acquitted Christian woman Asia Bibi of charges of "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad, ordering her immediate release and the cancellation of her execution. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party has threatened a strong response.
Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court, Justice Saqib Naseer, says that the sentence of a Catholic Christian woman who was sentenced to death in this country on charges of "blasphemy" and "insulting" the Prophet Muhammad has been overturned.
Pakistani media reported on Wednesday, October 31, that the Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of Asia Bibi, a mother of five.
The Supreme Court says that the prosecution has failed to remove the ambiguities in this case and prove the charges. For this reason, and given the contradictory statements of eyewitnesses, the court ultimately complied with the request of the woman's lawyers, who called for her immediate release.
The court's appeal hearing in Islamabad was held on October 8, but the court postponed the decision and announcement of the final verdict to an unknown date.
Asia Bibi became the first Catholic woman to be convicted of “blasphemy” in 2009 and sentenced to death in 2010. Her sentence was upheld in a Lahore court in 2014. A temporary stay of the sentence was ordered in July 2015.
The appeals court hearing on the verdict has been delayed several times over the past year, with Pakistani media reporting that the delay was due to threats against judges by Islamist extremists.
Asia Bibi is alleged to have “blasphemed” (insulted) the Prophet Muhammad during an argument. Blasphemy is a serious crime under Pakistani law, which is based on Islamic law. Blasphemy, in this context, is defined as any statement or action that is offensive to Islam, the Quran, or the Prophet Muhammad.
Islamabad was placed under tight security on Tuesday evening after the extremist Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called for the swift execution of Asia Bibi and accused Supreme Court judges of "capitulating" to pressure from "anti-Pakistan" forces in Western countries.
The party threatened to “paralyze the entire country” just hours after Asia Bibi was acquitted of the charges.
The TLP paralysed life in Islamabad for three weeks with protests in the fall of 2017 after it described a change in the oath-taking of members of the Pakistani parliament as “un-Islamic.” In May 2018, the then interior minister of Pakistan was the target of a terrorist attack by a member of the party, but survived.
Source: DW
