Pakistan: illiterate Christian boy, 16, forced to confess ‘blasphemy’ to escape mob violence

Pakistan: illiterate Christian boy, 16, forced to confess ‘blasphemy’ to escape mob violence
An angry Pakistani mob almost killed a 16­-year-old Christian boy – who is completely illiterate and also slightly mentally challenged – for allegedly burning the pages of a Quran. He was then apparently forced to confess to the alleged crime, and is now in custody – despite apparent inconsistencies in . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians face eviction from Islamabad slums

Pakistani Christians face eviction from Islamabad slums
Over 1000 “katchi abadi” residents gather outside the National Press Club in April 2014 to protest against plans to demolish 12 Islamabad slums.Dawn   Christians in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, are facing eviction from their homes, after the Capital Development Authority went to the country’s highest court to request the . . . Read More

Fixing Pakistan’s ‘broken’ blasphemy laws

Al-Jazeera at Pakistan’s volatile religious politics through the eyes of two Muslims trying to reform the country’s notorious anti-blasphemy laws. Attorney Saif-ul-Malook, for whom Aasiya Noreen (also known as Asia Bibi) is the latest of several clients he has defended against charges of offending Islam, lives in daily fear of an . . . Read More

Pakistan Supreme Court confirms decision to drop blasphemy case

Pakistan Supreme Court confirms decision to drop blasphemy case
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an appeal to reopen a blasphemy case against a Christian teen who had been accused of burning pages containing verses from the Quran. Rimsha Masih had been acquitted of the charges in November by the High Court in Islamabad.  The lower court’s decision was appealed . . . Read More

Pakistan court clears Rimsha; location remains secret as risk remains

Pakistan court clears Rimsha; location remains secret as risk remains
The case against Rimsha Masih, the teenage Pakistani Christian girl, has today been dropped by the court in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Rimsha, who was arrested in August on suspicion of desecrating Islamic texts, was originally charged in an adult court with blasphemy; there the penalty was life imprisonment. The . . . Read More