Tag: Blasphemy

Rimsha leaves Pakistan jail, reunited with family, government says

September 7, 2012 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Mumtaz Qadri, Paul Bhatti, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Quran, Rimsha Masih, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Women

Under heavy security, Rimsha Masih, the teenage Christian Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy, was whisked out of jail Saturdy to a waiting helicopter that government officials said took her to rejoin her family.The Pakistani news agency Dawn reported Rimsha, left Adiala Jail wering a green shirt and pants, and entered an armored . . . Read More

Case against Rimsha’s dramatic turn prompts Pakistan religious leaders to debate blasphemy law

September 4, 2012 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan Ulema Council, Paul Bhatti, Quran, Rimsha Masih

An unexpected twist in the Rimsha Masih blasphemy case appears to have paved the way for her freedom from apparently false charges of desecrating the Quran. The imam who supported her accuser was himself arrested and appeared in court on the same charge as the girl, that of desecrating the . . . Read More

Talk of violence against Rimsha worries her lawyer

August 31, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Lahore, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Rimsha Masih, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti

Confident on Wednesday of Rimsha Masih’s release, her lawyer was apprehensive Thursday after a prosecutor hinted strongly at the likelihood of violence if she is freed. “This girl is guilty,” said Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer for the man who has accused the girl of blasphemy against Islam. “If the . . . Read More

Teen accused of blasphemy will leave jail, but can’t go home, lawyer says

August 30, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Rimsha Masih, Women

Rimsha Masih is likely to be cleared of the blasphemy charge against her, but never will be able to return home, her lawyer says. Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, who has taken up the defense of the young Christian girl whose case has renewed international debate about Pakistan’s notorious anti-blasphemy laws, said . . . Read More

Young Pakistani girl arrested for ‘blasphemy’

August 21, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Children, Islamabad, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Rimsha Masih

Can a girl reported to be as young as 11 commit blasphemy? And in Pakistan, where blasphemy is punishable by death, should the law even apply? Last week’s arrest of Rimsha Masih, a girl reported to have Down’s Syndrome, is re-igniting Pakistan’s national debate about religious freedom. News of the . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian accused of ‘blasphemy’ after billiards dispute

May 22, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Farooqabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Sheikhupura

Police in Pakistan have charged a young Christian man with “blasphemy” after he had an argument with Muslims over a billiards game in Punjab Province’s Sheikhupura district, his cousin said. Farooqabad Police arrested Sajid Inayat, 20, on Friday (May 18) and charged him with desecrating the Quran under the country’s . . . Read More

Life sentences for ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan overturned

May 18, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Kasur, Lahore, Pakistan, Quran, Sahiwal

A court acquitted a Christian couple of “blasphemy” charges yesterday, overturning their life sentences, their lawyer said. Chaudhry Naeem Shakir told World Watch Monitor that Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court accepted the couple’s appeal because prosecutors failed to prove allegations that 32-year-old Munir Masih and . . . Read More

Christian’s six-year sentence upheld

April 27, 2012 Egypt Asyut, Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A judge in Upper Egypt has upheld a six-year prison sentence for a Coptic Christian wrongly convicted of “blasphemy” against Islam and inciting sectarian strife, his lawyer said. The judge in Assuit on April 5 refused to strike down a Feb. 29 sentence delivered to Makarem Diab, 49, of the . . . Read More

Christian acquitted of ‘blasphemy’ charge in Pakistan

April 17, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Madrassas, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab

A Pakistani Christian falsely charged with “blasphemy” after rescuing his 8-year-old nephew from a beating at the hands of Muslim boys has been cleared of the charge. Dildar Masih, a 27-year-old father of two young children, was acquitted on March 26 after prosecutors failed to produce any evidence against him, . . . Read More

Woman accused of ‘blasphemy’ illegally held in jail

April 10, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Women

The mother of a 6-month-old girl has been wrongly jailed for more than a month, as Pakistani authorities have failed to file a charge sheet within the mandatory 14-day period against the young Christian woman falsely accused of “blaspheming” the prophet of Islam, her attorney said. Shamim Bibi, 26, of . . . Read More

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