The Supreme court of pakistan suspended the death penalty for the christian Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy

The story of Asia Bibi, sentenced to death in Pakistan

The christian Asia Bibi, the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, has been acquitted by the Supreme Court of the country. His controversial case, which crossed borders, which has lasted eight years. Eight years of demonstrations, death threats, murders and the funeral mass.

Between strong security measures, three judges led by the president of the court, Saqib Nisar, made public this Wednesday, a ruling that had been decided three weeks ago. Its publication has been delayed due to the death threats from the supporters of the crime of blasphemy, which does not tolerate the acquittal of Bibi. “May be released”, said justice Nisar, provided that you are not charged other fees. The woman already acquitted remains in the prison of Adiala in Rawalpindi, waiting for you to carry out that order.

Bibi, a mother of five children who has spent eight years in solitary confinement, was sentenced to die by hanging for blasphemy in 2010, after women, after a discussion, the denunciation for having insulted the prophet Mohammed. Four years after Bibi lost an appeal to a higher court and, in 2015, the Supreme Court agreed to consider his case again. The trial was delayed after one of the judges challenged.

Now, the court understands that there are no solid evidence to condemn to death the accused and that the statements of the three witnesses present contradictions. The judgment points out that the women who accused Bibi “had not taken into account the truth” and that they “were able to testify in a false manner”. On the alleged insults to islam, says the judgment, were “nothing more than an invention”. It is not the role of the individuals nor of the mobs, remarked the judges, to decide what is crime and who is guilty.

In Pakistan is not easy to see a judge issuing a verdict in a case on blasphemy, a crime that is used in a bad way to set personal disputes of other nature. A few thousand cases have reached the courts, although there has been no execution. However, some judges, especially at the local level, the fear of being the object of the wrath of the most radical, who put a price on the head of those who dare to question religious offences. The threats are real: a local governor and a minister were killed for coming out in defense of Bibi, or by advocating reforms in the blasphemy laws. The funeral multitudinous are those of their killers, celebrated by the masses.

that’s why, during this Wednesday, the protests against the acquittal of the christian woman have been growing in different parts of Pakistan. In cities like Karachi or Lahore have carried out cuts of roads and burning of tyres, while in Islamabad it is extreme security.

Khadim Rizvi, founder of the party Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), as announced last October 13 that “will cripple the country in a matter of hours” if Bibi was released. From the TLP have pointed directly to the three judges of the Supreme as responsible for the deaths that may occur, including yours.

The family of Bibi is afraid of what might happen from now on, once the christian woman gets out of jail. Recently, her husband Ashiq Masih recognized agency Afp their fears. “The only tension that we have is the law of blasphemy. Asia Bibi, after his release can not remain there (in Pakistan) in the presence of this law. For us living in Pakistan is very difficult. We go out of our house and if we do, it is with a lot of care.”

In your environment share that fear but, at least today, to celebrate the acquittal of the judges. “The verdict has shown that the poor, minorities and lower-income segments of the society can get justice in this country despite its shortcomings. It is the day’s largest and most happy of my life,” he said to the French agency the lawyer of Bibi, Saiful Mulook.

Organizations such as Amnesty International, have applauded the decision as “historic” the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In the words of Omar Waraich, deputy director of AI in south Asia, “the message must be that the laws against blasphemy no longer be used to persecute the minorities most vulnerable of the country”.

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