Pakistan frees death row woman
PAKISTAN’S SUPREME COURT ON WEDNESDAY ACQUITTED CHRISTIAN WOMAN ASIA BIBI WHO WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 2010 ON BLASPHEMY CHARGES. THE GULF TODAY POLITICAL TEAM BRINGS YOU THE LANDMARK ISSUE
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday freed a Christian woman from a death sentence for blasphemy and overturned her conviction, sparking angry protests and cheers from human rights advocates.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar read the 56-page verdict and announced the setting aside of the Lahore High Court verdict, directing authorities to release Asia Bibi from prison.
Prime Minister Imran Khan warned those criticising the ruling.
On 31 October 2018 Supreme Court of Pakistan released Asia Bibi. In June 2009, Noreen was involved in an argument with a group of Muslim women with whom she had been harvesting berries after the other women objected to a non-muslim touching the bowl in which she fetched water. She was subsequently accused of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a charge she denies; she was arrested and imprisoned. In November 2010, a Sheikhupura judge sentenced her to death. If executed, Noreen would be the irst woman in Pakistan to be lawfully killed for blasphemy.
The verdict, which was reached in a district court and would need to be upheld by a superior court, has received worldwide attention. Various petitions, including one that received 400,000 signatures, were organised to protest Noreen’s imprisonment, and Pope Benedict XVI publicly called for the charges against her to be dismissed. She received less sympathy from her neighbours and religious leaders in the country, some of whom adamantly called for her to be executed. Christian minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Muslim politician Salmaan Taseer were both assassinated for advocating on her behalf and opposing the blasphemy laws. Noreen’s family went into hiding after receiving death threats, some of which threatened to kill Asia if released from prison.
She was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 31 October 2018, which also ruled that “she was free to go, if not wanted in connection with any other case”.
Noreen denied that she had committed blasphemy and said that she had been accused by her neighbor to “settle an old score.” In November 2010, Muhammed Naveed Iqbal, a judge at the court of Sheikhupura, Punjab, sentenced her to death by hanging. Additionally, a ine of the equivalent of $1,100 was imposed. With the verdict, she became the irst woman condemned to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges. Noreen described the day of her sentencing as follows:
“I cried alone, putting my head in my hands. I can no longer bear the sight of people full of hatred, applauding the killing of a poor farm worker. I no longer see them, but I still hear them, the crowd who gave the judge a standing ovation, saying: “Kill her, kill her!” The court house is invaded by an euphoric horde who break down the doors, chanting: “Vengeance for the holy prophet.” I was then thrown like an old rubbish sack into the van... I had lost all humanity in their eyes.”
Noreen’s husband, Ashiq Masih, 51 years old at the time, announced that he planned to appeal the verdict, which was upheld by the Lahore High Court. A month later, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who investigated the affair for the President Asif Ali Zardari, stated that Noreen would most likely be pardoned if the High Court did not suspend the sentence
Zardari was poised to grant pardon but Lahore High Court issued a stay order against potential Presidential pardon, which remains in force till date. Court transcripts show numerous inconsistencies in the evidence presented and reporters say they dare not repeat Bibi’s testimony lest they also be accused of blasphemy.
Bibi’s family and her lawyer say she never insulted the prophet. In previous hearings her attorney, Saiful Malook, pointed to contradictions in testimony from witnesses. The two Muslim women who pressed charges against Bibi denied they quarrelled with her, saying her outbursts against Islam were unprovoked.
Chaudhry Ghulam Mustafa, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, rejected the verdict, saying Bibi had confessed to making derogatory remarks against the prophet to seek pardon.
The three-judge panel upheld the blasphemy law itself, saying it was consistent with verses from Islam’s holy book, the Quran. But they said prosecutors had failed to prove that Bibi violated the law. In addition to citing the Quran, the judges also referenced Shakespeare’s King Lear, saying Bibi was “more sinned against than sinning.”
Noreen was put in solitary confinement in an 8-by-10-foot (2.4m X 3.0m) cell without windows at the Lahore prison. Before his assassination, Taseer visited her at the jail several times with his wife, Aamna, and daughter, Shehrbano, though Pakistani court oficials later ruled that she could be visited only by her husband and lawyer. Khalid Sheikh, the prison superintendent, said that while he wanted her to be treated “like any other prisoner,” she had to be kept away from other inmates for her own well-being, as other individuals accused of blasphemy had been killed while in prison.
Out of concern that she could be poisoned, prison oficials began giving Noreen raw materials to cook her own food. The Masihi Foundation, a human rights group, described her physical condition as “very frail,” and her health was reported to be in decline due to poor living conditions at the jail.
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Chief Justice Saqib Nasir, who headed a special three-person bench set up for the appeal, cited the Quran in his ruling, writing “Tolerance is the basic principle of Islam” and noting the religion condemns injustice and oppression.
“It is great news for Pakistan and rest of the world,” Bibi’s lawyer Saiful Mulook told the media. “Asia Bibi has inally been served justice . ... Pakistan’s Supreme Court must be appreciated that it upheld the law of the land and didn’t succumb to any pressure.”
Bibi’s case has been high on the agenda of religious hardliners in Pakistan, many of whom are fiercely opposed to her release.
“IT IS GREAT NEWS FOR PAKISTAN AND REST OF THE WORLD. ASIA BIBI HAS FINALLY BEEN SERVED JUSTICE... PAKISTAN’S SUPREME COURT MUST BE APPRECIATED THAT IT UPHELD THE LAW OF THE LAND AND DIDN’T SUCCUMB TO ANY PRESSURE.” BIBI’S LAWYER SAIFUL MULOOK