Tag: Blasphemy

Dare Egypt’s new Parliament amend or even abolish its blasphemy law?

January 8, 2016 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Blasphemy, Gad Younan

Egypt’s Secular Party has called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to support legislation which cancels the blasphemy law, because, in the words of lawyer Hamdi al-Assyouti, it has “become a tool in the hands of extremists against minorities, thinkers, and the creative impulse”. And, in his experience as a defence . . . Read More

Egyptian Copt’s ‘faked Facebook blasphemy’ acquittal delayed

November 17, 2015 Egypt Blasphemy, Copts, Sohag

Bishoy Garas has always maintained his Facebook profile was hackedWorld Watch Monitor An Egyptian Christian, jailed for 38 months on unsubstantiated charges, has had his expected acquittal delayed again to February next year, his lawyer said. Bishoy Garas was sentenced to six years in prison from September 2012 for offending . . . Read More

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws ‘fundamentally unfair’

November 11, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Prisons, Religious freedom

Pakistan’s implementation of its controversial blasphemy laws is “fundamentally unfair”, according to a report by the International Commission of Jurists. The ICJ report documents problems including: intimidation and harassment of judges and lawyers, bias against defendants, undue rejection of bail and prolonged pre-trial detention, “incompetent” investigation and prosecution, the prosecution . . . Read More

Asia Bibi ‘healthy and safe,’ says her lawyer

October 26, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Multan, Salmaan Taseer

The lawyer of the only Pakistani Christian woman to be given the death penalty for alleged blasphemy met her in prison last week, reporting that she is safe and in good health. The final appeal for Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, is pending before Pakistan’s top court, after the . . . Read More

Asia Bibi put in solitary cell

October 16, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamabad, Multan, Pakistan, Prisons, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer

Jailed Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi was moved into solitary confinement in the Multan Women’s Prison last week, following “genuine threats” to her life by angry supporters of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws. “She could be killed by any inmate or even a prison guard, so we have to be careful,” a . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian bailed over ‘blasphemy’

October 14, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Kasur, Pakistan, Punjab

A Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy has been released on bail, ahead of his next hearing on 20 October. Pervaiz Masih, an illiterate Christian labourer from the Punjab city of Kasur, was arrested on 2 September, after being accused by three colleagues of using “blasphemous words”. In Pakistan, a blasphemy . . . Read More

Pakistan’s Supreme Court makes landmark judgment

October 14, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Diyat, Islamabad, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Nawaz Sharif, Rawalpindi, Salmaan Taseer, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi, Sunni Tehreek

n Mumtaz Qadri was showered with rose petals by supporters for killing Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer over his criticism of the blasphemy laws.Getty Images In a landmark judgment on 7 October the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) upheld the death sentence of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, 30, who murdered the former . . . Read More

Qadri verdict a ‘victory over terrorism’

October 14, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Mumtaz Qadri, Salmaan Taseer, Taliban

The apex court in Pakistan has kept intact the death sentence of a man who murdered the former governor of the Punjab for seeking reforms in the blasphemy law and supporting Asia Bibi, a Christian woman condemned to death for allegedly committing blasphemy. The governor, Salmaan Taseer, was shot and . . . Read More

Pakistan: Qadri’s death sentence upheld

October 7, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Mumtaz Qadri, a police bodyguard who killed the politician he was supposed to protect because he had criticised Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Salman Taseer, the Governor of the state of Punjab, was shot dead in January 2011. Qadri was convicted of . . . Read More

Pakistan: 23 unreported ‘blasphemy’ cases in 2 years

September 29, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Joseph Colony, Kasur, Pakistan, Pakistan Ulema Council, Punjab, Sheikhupura

Since 2013, the All Pakistan Ulema Council (APUC) has intervened in 23 incidents involving Christians accused of blasphemy, preventing them from becoming major incidents, according to Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, the APUC Chairman. (The APUC, a representative group of senior Muslim clerics, is very influential in Pakistani public life.) It . . . Read More

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