Posted: 11/28/2014 at 4:48am | IP Logged

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A second and final appeal has been filed on behalf of Pakistani Christian mother, Asia Bibi, with the Supreme Court of Pakistani, Lahore Bench, against her death sentence for alleged blasphemy.

Asia Bibi

Her final chance to escape the noose was filed on Monday, November 24, 2014, by Saiful Malook, Advocate of Supreme Court, against the decision of Lahore High Court in which her previous appeal was dismissed and her death sentence was confirmed on October, 16, 2014.

“Recently Ashiq Masih, husband of Asia Bibi, sent an open letter to President of Pakistan asking for a pardon against his wife’s death sentence for blasphemy,” said a spokesperson for the Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD).

“In an open letter to the Pakistani President, that was published in the New York Times, he said that he was convinced that she would only be saved from being hanged if the Honorable President would overturn her death sentence for blasphemy.”

In November 2010, Asia Bibi, a mother-of-five, was convicted under section 295 C of the Pakistani Penal Code (PPC) and sentenced to death. Since then, she has been languishing in jail, with death threats from extremists having over her.

“LEAD vows to support and stand with Saiful Malook, her attorney in Supreme Court, and we also assure our moral and spiritual support for Asia Bibi and her family,” continued the LEAD spokesperson.

“Ashiq has revealed that his wife was very sick and, since her arrest she has been in a terrible condition and was spending her days in dark cell. He also shared his fear for himself and his family, and said they could not live in one place and they keep changing their residence from one place to other.”

As if Asia Bibi’s miscarriage of justice was bad enough, an even worse case has recently taken place.

In a latest example of mob violence against Christians accused of blasphemy, on November 4, 2014 at about 7:00 am, a Christian couple were burned alive after being falsely accused them of desecration of Qur’anic pages at District Kasur's Town Kotradha Kishan, Chak No.59.

The LEAD spokesperson then added, “Living in a land of 97% Muslims, the Christians in Pakistan have the fear of persecution all the time which is in the guise of threats, attacks, discrimination and hatred, but one intimidation that hovers on them every time, like a hanging sword, are the blasphemy laws.”

And even if they are acquitted of the blasphemy charge, they can then be murdered as they leave court, or in the streets.

If you would like to learn more of the work of LEAD, or make a donation, just go leadfamily.blogspot.com/p/donation.html

Posted: 11/28/2014 at 5:04am | IP Logged

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, who is facing execution for alleged blasphemy, has sent a message of heartfelt thanks to the mayor of Paris for the city’s support in her case.

Asia Bibi

Mother-of-five Asia Bibi was accused of insulting the Muslim faith in 2009 following an argument with fellow villagers who were angry that she had drunk from a communal well.

A story by FRANCE 24 said she has always denied the charges, but was sentenced to death in 2010 and has been in custody ever since.

Last weekend Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called on Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain to grant Asia Bibi a presidential pardon.

“I asked him in my own name, and in the name of the city of Paris and all Parisians,” FRANCE 24 said she wrote. “Paris, the capital of human rights, is prepared to welcome her and her family to stay here permanently if they so wish.”

On Monday, in an oral message relayed through her husband and translated by FRANCE 24’s Pakistan correspondent Anne-Isabelle Tollet, Bibi told Le Figaro that “in my little windowless cell, where day and night are one and the same, the fact that I can have hope is thanks to you”.

“I want to thank the mayor and everyone in Paris,” she said. “You are my only chance of not dying in this dungeon. Please don’t let me meet this fate. I did not blaspheme.”

Bibi’s death sentence was upheld by the high court in Lahore in October.

“After four long years of waiting in extremely difficult circumstances, we had hoped that the High Court in Lahore would free my wife,” FRANCE 24 said her husband Ashiq Masih told Le Figaro. “She did not blaspheme. She has never blasphemed. We don’t understand why the Pakistan that we love is punishing us like this.”

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive subject in Pakistan, which has strict but ambiguous laws that are difficult to argue against in court. Lynchings for alleged blasphemy are not uncommon.

At the beginning of November, FRANCE 24 reported, a Christian bonded laborer and his pregnant wife were accused of desecrating the Koran after a garbage collector told locals he had found torn pages from the Muslim holy book amid the couple’s trash.

Shahzad Masih and Shama Bibi, who was four months pregnant, were later beaten, surrounded by a crowd of up to 1,500 villagers. They were then thrown on top of a lit furnace at the brick factory where they worked.

The incident sparked protests by Christians and outrage among rights activists. Police arrested 44 suspects in the days following the killings.

Source: Assist News Service