Tag: Islamabad

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 mother condemned for ‘blasphemy’ allegedly beaten

October 20, 2011 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Prisons, Salmaan Taseer, Sheikhupura

A female prison officer assigned to provide security for a Christian mother of five who was sentenced to death on “blasphemy” charges beat her earlier this month, sources said. Sources in Pakistan’s Sheikhupura District Jail said Asia Noreen, also known as Asia Bibi, was beaten on Oct. 5 by a . . . Read More

Suspected Islamists kill Pakistan’s Christian cabinet member

March 2, 2011 Pakistan Al-Qaeda, Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Taliban

Unidentified gunmen in Islamabad today shot dead Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s only cabinet-level Christian and an outspoken critic of the country’s widely condemned “blasphemy” laws. Suspected Islamic extremists from Pakistan’s Taliban and al Qaeda reportedly left a letter at the scene saying those who try to . . . Read More

Murder of governor in Pakistan darkens Asia Bibi’s ‘blasphemy’ case

January 5, 2011 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Salmaan Taseer

The case of Asia Noreen, the first Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges, suffered a major setback when her most vocal supporter, the governor of Punjab Province, was gunned down by one of his police bodyguards yesterday (Jan. 4) in Islamabad. The lives of Noreen and . . . Read More

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