Tag: Blasphemy

Indonesia’s only Christian governor questioned by police amid ‘blasphemy’ furore

November 29, 2016 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Kalimantan, Sumatra

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known by his nickname, ‘Ahok’), during a re-election speech in Jakarta on 16 November. He was questioned by police on 22 November after being named a suspect in a blasphemy investigation seen by critics as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia, the world’s most populous . . . Read More

Death sentence for killers of Christian couple burned alive in Pakistan

November 24, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Lahore, Punjab, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi

Pakistani Christians mourn the death of the couple burnt alive on 4 November 2014 for setting fire to some pages from the Qur’an. An Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore, Pakistan yesterday (23 Nov.) sentenced five men to death for the murder of a Christian couple who were burned alive in November . . . Read More

Libyan Christian arrested for proselytising

November 8, 2016 Libya Benghazi, Blasphemy, Converts, Islamic extremism, Libya, Sharia

A Libyan man who converted to Christianity has been arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi, local sources have confirmed to World Watch Monitor. The man is accused of “proselytising on social media and denigrating Islam”. His arrest was announced on the Facebook page of a branch of Libya’s General . . . Read More

Indonesia: Christian Governor accused of blasphemy

November 7, 2016 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Jakarta, Quran

Thousands of hardline Muslims turned violent during a protest calling for the prosecution of Jakarta’s Christian Governor over comments he made about the Quran, . An estimated 50,000 demonstrated at a largely peaceful rally in the Indonesian capital on 4 November after the Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that Islamic . . . Read More

UPDATE: Nigeria: suspects in blasphemy case released

November 4, 2016 Blasphemy, Boko Haram, Hisbah, Imo, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Muhammadu Buhari, Niger, Nigeria, Ramadan, Sabon Gari, Sharia, Sultan of Sokoto

Christian Center in Abuja, Nigeria, Feb. 2016 (World Watch Monitor) A court in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano has freed five people detained in relation with the killing of a pastor’s wife who had been accused of blasphemy. Bridget Agbahime, 74, wife of Mike Agbahime, pastor of Deeper Life Bible . . . Read More

UPDATE: Protests in Algeria for release of sick Christian

November 4, 2016 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Berbers, Blasphemy, Constantine, Kabylie, MAK, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs

Bouhafs’ family said seeking a presidential pardon is a ‘last resort and the only possible solution to set him free’.World Watch Monitor Protesters in Algeria have called for the release of Slimane Bouhafs, an evangelical Christian jailed for three years in September for “insulting Islam and the prophet Mohammed” in . . . Read More

Two Pakistani Christian families escape blasphemy accusations

November 3, 2016 Pakistan Balochistan, Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Quetta, Sheikhupura, Sweepers

Two blasphemy cases lodged against Pakistani Christians accused of desecrating Islamic scriptures have been dropped in the past week. The cases related to alleged offences under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws and were registered in separate incidents, hundreds of miles apart. In both cases Christians were initially suspected of the crime . . . Read More

Asia Bibi’s appeal delayed; 150 Islamic leaders call for her to hang, whatever the outcome

October 13, 2016 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Salmaan Taseer, Sunni Tehreek

After more than seven years in prison, the first Pakistani Christian woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy has had her Supreme Court appeal delayed, amidst renewed Islamist calls for her to die. Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, in prison since the summer of 2009, was arrested . . . Read More

Lawyers ‘threatened’ in boy’s Kaaba ‘blasphemy’ case

October 11, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Nadeem Masih, Sweepers

Nabeel Masih, 16, is alleged to have “defamed” the Kaaba in Mecca, the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque.Amalia Sari / Flickr / CC Lawyers representing a 16-year-old Pakistani Christian boy accused of blasphemy for ‘liking’ a photo posted on Facebook have reported being intimidated by . . . Read More

Jordanian writer killed after Facebook ‘blasphemy’

September 26, 2016 Jordan Amman, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jordan

A Jordanian writer charged with offending Islam after sharing a satirical cartoon on his Facebook page has been killed. Nahid Hattar was hit by three bullets outside the court in the capital, Amman, where he was standing trial, the BBC reported. The cartoon shows Allah catering for the whims of . . . Read More

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