[The Bibi case has been at the heart of that clash, because it led to the assassination of a provincial governor who had questioned the fairness of her treatment under Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy laws. The killer was the governor’s 26-year-old bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, who claimed he was acting in defense of Islam. Qadri was executed for murder in 2016 but later lionized as a martyr by some Pakistani Muslims, and his death spawned a crusade that has since gained millions of adherents.]
By Shaiq Hussain , Pamela
Constable and Meagan Flynn
 |
|
Supporters
of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a hard-line religious political party, protest
the
Pakistani Supreme Court’s acquittal Wednesday of a Christian woman
facing
execution for blasphemy. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images)
|
ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan — In a tensely
awaited ruling Wednesday, Pakistan’s highest court spared the life of a
Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, prompting celebrations among
human rights activists but nationwide protests by Muslim religious parties,
some of whose leaders called for the justices to be killed.
The angry outbursts drew a strong rebuke from
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who addressed the nation in a video message
Wednesday night as demonstrations and roadblocks persisted. Khan said that “the
despicable language used by a small section of society against the army,
judiciary and government is deplorable,” adding, “I appeal to you not to start
a confrontation with the state.”
But the surprise ruling in the case of Asia
Bibi, 47, a farmworker and mother of five who was accused of blasphemy by
Muslim co-workers in 2009 after a dispute over sharing water in a sweltering
berry field, seemed likely to intensify the confrontation between Pakistani
authorities and leaders of the fast-growing anti-blasphemy movement that has
flared repeatedly in the past year.
The Bibi case has been at the heart of that
clash, because it led to the assassination of a provincial governor who had
questioned the fairness of her treatment under Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy
laws. The killer was the governor’s 26-year-old bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, who
claimed he was acting in defense of Islam. Qadri was executed for murder in
2016 but later lionized as a martyr by some Pakistani Muslims, and his death
spawned a crusade that has since gained millions of adherents.
A three-judge Supreme Court panel overturned
a lower court’s conviction of Bibi, who spent eight years in prison while
appealing charges of making “derogatory remarks” about the prophet Muhammad.
The panel found that the evidence against her appeared fabricated and flimsy.
If Asia had not been granted clemency, she could have been the first person
hanged under the blasphemy laws, which carry a mandatory death penalty.
In the United States and elsewhere abroad,
religious rights activists and others praised the court’s decision. The U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom said her case “illustrates the
extent to which blasphemy laws can be exploited to target minority
communities.” Christians and members of Pakistan’s Ahmadi minority are often
falsely accused of blasphemy.
The commission’s chairman, Tenzin Dorjee,
called it “deeply troubling that Bibi’s case even reached this level,” at which
she came close to being executed. In most such cases, the defendants end up
languishing in prison, but many others have been lynched by mobs. The
commission called on Khan’s government to ensure her safety and to release 40
other people imprisoned on blasphemy charges.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), a longtime
critic of alleged religious abuses in Pakistan, said in a tweet he was
“relieved Asia Bibi has been freed and acquitted of a bogus blasphemy charge in
Pakistan. This was the correct, humane, and only decision for the Court to make.
Her and her family’s safety — and her lawyer’s — should be of the utmost
importance now.”
There were unconfirmed reports that
authorities were considering sending Bibi and her family out of the country.
Bibi has not yet been released from custody, officials said.
On Tuesday night, Khadim Hussain Rizvi,
leader of the national religious party known as the Movement in Service to the
Prophet, warned that if the high court decided in favor of Bibi, the nation
would be “brought to a standstill.” The party, which has used various names in
the past, staged a mass protest last year that blocked the highway between
Islamabad and Rawalpindi city for weeks. After the court ruled Wednesday,
hundreds of religious protesters blocked the same route.
“We don’t accept this decision, which is
given only to please the U.S. and other Western powers,” said Haris Ahmed, a
young man taking part in the demonstration. “Our protest will continue until
the Supreme Court reverses its decision and the blasphemer is sentenced to
death. If the government believes it can stop us by force, they are living in a
fool’s paradise.”
In Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city,
Rizvi staged a separate protest outside the provincial legislature after the
ruling, urging people through a loudspeaker to join in. “All of you hearing my
voice, shut your doors and come join this protest,” he said. “For us, the honor
of our prophet is everything. We are ready to face police. We are not afraid of
anything. It’s time to rise up for your religion.”
In its ruling, the court panel did not take
issue with the blasphemy laws or with the imposition of the death penalty in
proven cases but said it was bound to honor the presumption of innocence. Chief
Justice Mian Saqib Nisar wrote that “the commission of blasphemy is abhorrent
and immoral . . . but at the same time a false allegation
regarding commission of such an offence is equally detestable.”
Constable reported from Kabul. Flynn reported
from Washington.
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