Pakistan acquits Christian woman in the face of death for blasphemy
Pakistan acquits Christian woman in the face of death for blasphemy
Pakistani police officers stand guard in front of the supreme court in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday, October 31, 2018. (AP)
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's high court on Wednesday acquitted a Christian woman who was sentenced to death in 2010 on charges of blasphemy, a historic failure that could ignite mass protests or violence by hard-line Islamists.
The presiding judge, Mian Saqib Nisar, announced the verdict to a packed courtroom and ordered the release of Asia Bibi. She has been held in an undisclosed location for security reasons and is expected to leave the country.
The charges against Bibi date back to a hot day in 2009, when she went to fetch water for herself and her fellow farm workers. Two Muslim women refused to drink from a container used by a Christian. A few days later, a mob accused her of blasphemy. She was sentenced and sentenced to death.
The mere rumor of blasphemy can ignite mob violence and lynchings in Pakistan, and fighting the so-called blasphemy has become a central cry for hard-line Islamists. Salman Taseer, the governor of the province of Punjab, was shot dead by one of his guards in 2011 for defending Bibi and criticizing the misuse of the blasphemy law. The murderer, Mumtaz Qadri, has been celebrated as a martyr by the hard line since he was hanged for the murder, and millions of people visited a shrine that was established near Islamabad.
Before the verdict, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a hard-line cleric who has taken tens of thousands of people to the streets during past rallies, called on his supporters to meet in major cities to express their love for the prophet and protest if Bibi is released. The authorities have increased security in churches across the country.
Shortly after the ruling, hundreds of Islamists blocked a key highway linking the city of Rawalpindi with the capital, Islamabad. Islamists in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, and the northwest city of Peshawar, were also gathering for protests. Similar rallies were carried out in other places. The police urged the protesters to disperse peacefully.
The family of Bibi and his lawyer say that he never insulted the prophet. In previous hearings, his lawyer, Saiful Malook, pointed out the contradictions in the testimony of witnesses. The two Muslim women who brought charges against Bibi denied fighting with her, saying her outbursts against Islam were not provoked.
Critics of the blasphemy law have said it is used to settle personal accounts or to attack minority communities. Bibi's case was closely followed internationally amid concern for Pakistan's religious minorities, which have been frequently attacked by extremists in recent years.
Bibi's husband praised the verdict on Wednesday.
"I am very happy, my children are very happy, we are grateful to God, we are grateful to the judges for giving us justice, we knew that she is innocent," said Ashiq Masih.
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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed.
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