Christians branded as "blasphemous", even if most of the time on the basis of false accusations, risk their lives and also the lives of those who dare to defend them is at risk.
Source/Credit: UCA News
By Vatican Insider staff | May 3, 2014
Hearing postponed four times amid allegations of unfair pressure
“The first hearing of the appeal process for Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman sentenced to death in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy has been scheduled for May 27.” As reported to Fides by “the pool of defense attorneys, the case will be discussed in front of a panel of judges of the Lahore High Court, led by Judge Anwar-Ul- Haq.”
“While Asia has been languishing in Multan women's prison for over four and a half years - from February 2010 to today - the judiciary of Lahore, has postponed the hearings four times after coming under pressure from radical Islamic groups, because the judges themselves, fearing reprisals, tend to avoid the responsibility of deciding on such a delicate case.”
"In Asia Bibi’s case, any delay or postponement means denying justice", says a note sent to Fides by the lawyer Mushtaq Gill, head of the NGO LEAD ("Legal Evangelical Association Development"), committed to the defense of Christian Pakistanis.
"Too often – says Gill – Christians are considered as 'second class citizens', justice is denied, especially when they are accused of blasphemy". Christians branded as "blasphemous", even if most of the time on the basis of false accusations, risk their lives and also the lives of those who dare to defend them is at risk. There are cases where Islamic leaders have issued a "fatwa" (religious decree) publicly inviting the faithful to kill the alleged "blasphemer", with extra-judicial executions, trampling the rule of law.
For example in January 2011 Mumtaz Qadri, the man who shot and killed the Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, guilty of having defended Asia Bibi, is now hailed as a "hero" and a mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad, was named after him.”
“For this reason, Christians who are often accused, if released, are forced to leave the country in order to save their life. And even their lawyers are victims of intimidation and threats. Lawyer Gill concludes: "The battle against extremists in Pakistan cannot be won until the government puts in place the necessary legislative reforms: what needs to be done to get to the root of the problem is to first of all repeal the blasphemy laws without fearing the reaction of extremists.”
Read original post here: Pakistan: New hearing date set for Asia Bibi blasphemy case
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.