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PAKISTAN: Fresh hope of reprieve for condemned woman
By John Pontifex
Christians in Pakistan praying
A Pakistan bishop whose appeal on behalf of a mother of five was taken up by the Pope says there is fresh hope in the bid to overturn the death sentence she received.
Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old Christian from a village outside Lahore, is on death row after being found guilty by a Punjab court of insulting the Prophet Mohammed. The crime is punishable by execution under Pakistan’s controversial Blasphemy Laws.
Amid widespread outrage at the court’s verdict – reportedly the first of its kind involving a woman – Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore wrote a letter which he presented personally at the Vatican in Rome.
In response, Pope Benedict XVI made a public statement appealing on Asia’s behalf.
| BBC report: Fear for Pakistan’s death row Christian woman |
With reports emerging that the case may soon be taken to Pakistan’s High Court, Bishop Shaw told Aid to the Church in Need that he was hopeful of success.
Speaking from Lahore today (Monday, 29th November), the bishop said: “Some High Court lawyers have said they have already studied the case and believe that the charges against her are not proven.
“The right way to proceed is for Christian lawyers and human rights activists to work together on an appeal case. Through these means we will succeed.”
The bishop added that legal experts had stressed the significance of the fact that in the initial stages of the case Asia had no defence lawyer.
Bishop Shaw went on to appeal for prayer for Asia and her family. He said: “Prayer is a very powerful weapon that we have.
“Everybody who has sympathy for Asia, everybody who believes in fostering life, should pray for her.”
He said that across Lahore and beyond Christians were fasting and holding prayer vigils in the hope of a breakthrough for Asia.
Asia Bibi, whose mostly grown-up children include nine-year-old Esham, was sentenced to death on 7th November.
The verdict came almost 18 months after she was arrested for blasphemy following an argument with fellow agricultural workers in which both she and two of her daughters defended her religion.
According to Catholic media agency AsiaNews, Asia’s colleagues responded by beating all three. Afterwards a local imam and a group of men accused her of blasphemy against Mohammed.
After the Punjab court gave a verdict ordering the death sentence, Governor Salman Taseer of the Punjab publicly spoke out against the court’s ruling.
It came at a time when Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari was being urged to exercise his legal prerogative by repealing the sentence.
But, stressing that the original verdict was made in a lower court of law, Pakistan’s High Court has today barred President Zardari from acting until it had considered the case on appeal.
The case has prompted further widespread condemnation of the Blasphemy Laws.
In a statement denouncing the laws, Aid to the Church in Need recently cited statements by a number of Catholic bishops in Pakistan who have said the legislation is open to abuse by mobs.
Working with Pakistan’s Catholic National Council for Justice and Peace, senior clergy in Pakistan have stressed that the law is exploited by extremists looking for an excuse to attack minorities including vulnerable Muslims.