PAKISTAN DECRIES EU PARLIAMENT’S RESOLUTION ON BLASPHEMY LAWS
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday decried a move by the European Parliament, which a day earlier adopted a resolution demanding Islamabad allow freedom for religious minorities and asked the EU to reconsider the South Asian country’s preferential trade status.
The European Parliament appealed on Islamabad to free a Christian couple - Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel - who have been on death row since 2014. The two were convicted of insulting Prophet Mohammed.
It also urged Pakistani authorities to repeal the country’s controversial blasphemy laws, provide Kausar and Emmanuel with needed medical care and “immediately and unconditionally” overrule their death sentence.
It also expressed concern at increasing online and other attacks on journalists and human rights activists and asked Pakistan to take steps to ensure their safety.
The foreign ministry in Islamabad released a statement expressing the government’s disappointment at the European resolution, saying it “reflects a lack of understanding in the context of blasphemy laws and associated religious sensitivities in Pakistan”.