ISLAMABAD/LAHORE - Pakistan's Supreme
Court on Wednesday freed a Christian woman from a death sentence
for blasphemy against Islam and overturned her conviction,
sparking angry protests and death threats from an ultra-Islamist
party and cheers from human rights advocates.
Asia Bibi, a mother-of-four, had been living on death row
since 2010, when she became the first woman to be sentenced to
death by hanging under Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws,
which critics say are too harsh and often misused.
She was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks
about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from
their glass because she was not Muslim. Bibi has always denied
committing blasphemy.
The case has outraged Christians worldwide - Pope Francis
said he personally prayed for Bibi - and has been a source of
division within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to
help Bibi were assassinated.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, who headed a special three-judge
bench set up for the appeal, cited the Koran in the ruling,
writing that "tolerance is the basic principle of Islam" and
noting the religion condemns injustice and oppression.
In overturning her conviction, the ruling said the evidence
against Bibi was insufficient.
Bibi did not appear in the courtroom and her whereabouts
were a closely held secret for fear of attacks on her and her
family. Many have speculated they will be forced to leave the
country, but there was no confirmation of their plans.
Her lawyer called the court ruling "great news" for
Pakistan.
"Asia Bibi has finally been served justice," lawyer Saiful
Mulook told Reuters. "Pakistan's Supreme Court must be
appreciated that it upheld the law of the land and didn't
succumb to any pressure."
DEATH THREATS
Supporters of Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labaik
(TLP) immediately condemned Wednesday's ruling and blocked roads
in major cities, pelting police with stones in the eastern city
of Lahore.
Street protests and blockades of major roads were spreading
by mid-afternoon, paralysing parts of Islamabad, Lahore and
other cities.
One of the TLP's top leaders called for the death of Nisar,
the chief justice, and the two other judges on the panel.
"They all three deserve to be killed. Either their security
should kill them, their driver kill them, or their cook kill
them," TLP co-founder Muhammad Afzal Qadri told a protest in
Lahore.
"Whoever, who has got any access to them, kill them before
the evening."
He also called for the ouster of the new government of Prime
Minister Imran Khan and for army officers to rise up against
powerful military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who he said
"should be sacked from the army".
The TLP was founded out of a movement supporting a bodyguard
who assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer for
advocating for Bibi in 2011. Federal minister for minorities
Shahbaz Bhatti was also killed after calling for her release.
By late afternoon, two other religious movements, including
one headed by Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on
his head for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks,
announced that they would also join the protests.
In November, TLP staged a crippling blockade of Islamabad
after small changes to a religious oath taken by election
candidates, which it said were tantamount to blasphemy. Seven
people were killed and more than 200 wounded in clashes with the
police and TLP's supporters only dispersed after striking a deal
with the military.
BLASPHEMY LAW CRITICISED
In February, Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, and one of her
daughters met Pope Francis shortly before Rome's ancient
Coliseum was lit in red one evening in solidarity with
persecuted Christians, and Bibi in particular.
The pope told Bibi's daughter: "I think often of your mother
and I pray for her."
Dozens of Pakistanis - including many minority Christians or
members of the Ahmadi faith - have been sentenced to death for
blasphemy in the past decade, though no one has actually been
executed.
Rights groups say the blasphemy law is exploited by
religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle
personal scores. The law does not clearly define blasphemy and
evidence might not be reproduced in court for fear of committing
a fresh offence.
Additionally, at least 65 people have been murdered over
blasphemy allegations since 1990, including a 23-year-old
student beaten to death on his university campus last year.
Christians make up only about 2% of Pakistan's
population and are often discriminated against.
"This is a landmark verdict," said Omar Waraich, deputy
South Asia director for Amnesty International. "The message must
go out that the blasphemy laws will no longer be used to
persecute the country's most vulnerable minorities."