Lion Air plane debris found on seafloor
Asia Noreen Bibi, a Roman Catholic, had an argument with three Muslim women when she was asked to fetch water while they were working in the fields in Sheikhupura, near Lahore. The Muslim women objected to her touching the water bowl. A few days later, the Muslim women complained to a cleric that Asia made “derogatory remarks” about Prophet Mohammed. The cleric approached the police, who opened an investigation. She was arrested and prosecuted under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
Asia Bibi was convicted and sentenced to death by a court in Sheikhupura for allegedly making derogatory comments about Prophet Mohammed.
Pope Benedict XVI called for the release of Asia Bibi, saying Christians in Pakistan are often the victims of discrimination.
Then Punjab governor Salman Taseer was assassinated by a police bodyguard because he visited Asia Bibi in jail and told then president Asif Ali Zardari that she deserved clemency. Acting on Taseer’s plea to get Asia Bibi released, Zardari ordered a review of her case.
Pakistan’s lone minority minister, Shahbaz
Bhatti, was assassinated after he campaigned to bring about reforms in the blasphemy laws.
The Lahore high court upheld Asia Bibi’s conviction and approved her death sentence.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended the death sentence till the time the appeals procedure was completed.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court bench set aside Asia Bibi’s conviction and ordered her release. Asia Bibi was convicted for blasphemy under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for reportedly defaming Prophet Mohammad.
The prosecution presented seven witnesses to support the charges of blasphemy. Two eyewitnesses, Mafia Bibi and Asma Bibi, claimed they heard Asia make blasphemous remarks. Other witnesses included complainant Qari Muhammad Salaam, a cleric, three police officers, and local resident Muhammad Afzal.
Asia Bibi claimed she had a “quarrel” with Mafia and Asma over their refusal to drink water brought for them by her because she was a Christian. She claimed Mafia and Asma fabricated the blasphemy case. JAKARTA: The search for the crashed Lion Air plane has found aircraft debris and passenger belongings on the seafloor but the object thought to be the fuselage is still eluding it, an Indonesian official said Wednesday, as chilling video of passengers boarding the fatal flight emerged.
Search and Rescue Agency chief Muhammad Syaugi said the seafloor findings give the search team confidence they will find the body of the aircraft. The location of the airplane’s “black box” flight data recorder has been identified, he said, but strong currents prevented it from being recovered.
“We saw belongings such as life jackets, pants, clothes scattered on the seabed,” Syaugi said. “We believe the fuselage will be around there, we hope that our target can be found.”
The 2-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet plunged into the Java Sea on Monday just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Syaugi said one of the ships with high-tech equipment being used in the search dispatched a remote-operated vehicle that recorded parts of the aircraft on the seafloor but not the 22-metre -long object detected at a depth of 32 metres that is believed to be the fuselage. He said the area is about 400 metres from the coordinates where the airplane lost contact.
Three other objects in separate locations were reached by divers but turned out to be two sunken boats and a fish trap. A remoteoperated vehicle was sent to the black box location “but the currents on the seabed were very strong, the ROV was carried away,” Syaugi said.
Searchers have sent 57 body bags containing human remains to police identification experts who on Wednesday said they’d identified their first victim, a 24-year-old woman.