Tag: Pakistan

Christian charged with ‘blasphemy’ denied bail

January 30, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan

A judge has denied bail to a young Christian man charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws despite the lack of evidence against him, sources said. Police in Shahdara, near Lahore, had arrested 23-year-old Khuram Masih on Dec. 5 and charged him with desecrating the Quran after . . . Read More

Persecution increased most in Sudan, Nigeria, report says

January 4, 2012 Global News -- No Particular Country Abyei, Afghanistan, Alexandria, Arab Spring, Blasphemy, Blue Nile, Boko Haram, China, Copts, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hosni Mubarak, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Maspero, Nigeria, Omar al-Bashir, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Yemen

Sudan and northern Nigeria saw steeper increases in persecution against Christians than 48 other nations where Christians suffered abuse last year, according to an annual ranking by Christian support organization Open Doors. Sudan – where northern Christians experienced greater vulnerability after southern Sudan seceded in a July referendum, and where . . . Read More

Pregnant woman beaten in Pakistani jail granted bail

December 30, 2011 Pakistan Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Women

A judge this month granted bail to a Christian woman falsely charged with theft in Abbottabad after police failed to produce evidence incriminating her, she said. Salma Emmanuel, 30, was freed on bail on Dec. 8. She and her husband were severely beaten for three days when they refused to . . . Read More

Christian in Pakistan charged with ‘blasphemy’ after argument

December 26, 2011 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran

A young man has been charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy” laws after the Christian had an argument over rent with his Muslim landlord, his attorneys said. Police in Shahdara Town, near Lahore, arrested Khuram Masih, 23, on Dec. 5 and charged him under Section 295-B after . . . 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

Jailed Pakistani mother living in constant fear, husband says

January 19, 2011 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Salmaan Taseer, Sheikhupura

A mother of five sentenced to death on “blasphemy” charges has lived in constant fear since the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, her husband told Compass as he came out of Sheikhupura District Jail after meeting with her last week. Ashiq Masih said his wife, Asia Noreen (alternatively spelled . . . 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

Pakistani woman appeals death sentence for ‘blasphemy’

November 13, 2010 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab

Attorneys for a Christian mother of five sentenced to death by hanging for allegedly speaking ill of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, have filed an appeal of the verdict, they said. Bowing to pressure from Muslim extremists in Pakistan, according to the Christian woman’s husband and rights groups, a district . . . Read More

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