Tag: Multan

Lawyer: Asia Bibi is on a plane, destination unknown

November 7, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Salmaan Taseer, Sheikhupura

Asia Bibi is finally free, almost one decade after she was first imprisoned. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The lawyer for Aasiya Noreen said 7 Nov. that the Pakistani Christian, whose blasphemy conviction was overturned 31 Oct., was on a plane, destination undisclosed. “No one knows where she will land,” the lawyer, Saiful Malook, told Agence France-Presse in a message via Twitter posted at 7:40 p.m. GMT: In his . . . Read More

Pakistan’s top judge says he’ll hear Asia Bibi’s appeal personally – and ‘soon’

April 26, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Catholics, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Minorities, Multan, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Religious freedom

Aasiya Noreen, a Pakistani Christian woman, has been on death row for over eight years for alleged blasphemy. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pakistan’s chief justice says he will decide, “soon,” the fate of Aasiya Noreen, a Christian woman whose 2009 conviction on blasphemy charges has fixated world attention on the country’s treatment of religious minorities. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar told Noreen’s lawyer, Saif-ul-Malook, on 21 April that he would hear the woman’s . . . Read More

Pakistan: Suspected killer of Christian student freed

January 30, 2018 Pakistan Caste, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

The Muslim man arrested and jailed for killing a Christian fellow student has been released on bail, reports Asia News. Judges at the Multan High Court in Lahore, who released Ahmed Raza, said “no clear evidence was collected to attest to [his] guilt”. Sharoon Masih, 17, was beaten to death . . . Read More

Could Pakistan’s place on US ‘Watch List’ create more problems for minorities?

January 11, 2018 Pakistan Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Human rights, Joseph Colony, Minorities, Multan, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Taliban, USA

The US State Department last week placed Pakistan on a ‘Special Watch List’ for “severe violations of religious freedom”. The US did not, however, go as far as adding it to its ten ‘Countries of Particular Concern’* – for countries where “governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and . . . Read More

Pakistan and Iraq: Christmas joy mixed with grief

December 24, 2017 Christmas, Iraq, Kirkuk, Multan, Nineveh Plains, Pakistan, Quetta

How will Christians under pressure for their faith celebrate Christmas? In the first of our series we hear from Pakistan and Iraq. Pakistan: Pattern of suicide attacks during festivals This is the fourth time in three years that suicide bombers have targeted churches or gatherings around Christian festivals. Last Sunday . . . Read More

Adding insult to injury – Pakistani church leaders arrested, fined for ‘not putting security in place’

December 22, 2017 Pakistan Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan, Peshawar, Punjab, Quetta

Bishop of Multan Leo Paul with a security inspection team outside Multan Cathedral, late Dec 2017

Pakistan intelligence agencies on Tuesday (19 December) put out an alert that major parks could be targeted by suicide bombers over Christmas in Lahore, capital of Punjab province – where the largest population of Christians resides. On Sunday (17 December), two suicide bombers attacked Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in the . . . Read More

Pakistan releases IS-linked woman who planned Easter suicide attack

May 10, 2017 Pakistan Islamic State, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Mardan, Multan, Pakistan, Youhanabad

Pakistani Christians have expressed dismay at a decision by the authorities to quietly release a woman who was planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack in a church in the city of Lahore over the Easter weekend. Pakistan’s army chief spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, said that Noreen Leghari, 19, . . . 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

Asia Bibi’s last chance for freedom

July 22, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Multan, Prophet Muhammad, Sawan Masih, Shahbaz Bhatti, Sheikhupura

Pakistani Christian Aasiya Noreen (known as Asia Bibi) has been allowed to take her appeal against her death penalty for blasphemy to Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the capital, Islamabad. Until the Supreme Court reaches its final decision, Noreen cannot be executed. Commentators today have praised the Supreme Court for its courage to . . . Read More

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