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The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overturned the death sentence for blasphemy against Christian woman Asia Bibi, in a landmark recent decision that saw the judiciary praised for its courage in the face of threats of violence and protests from Islamist groups in the country.
The three-member court led by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar delivered a verdict on Wednesday morning in Islamabad, three weeks after making his decision. The delay followed the threats of blasphemy activists to hold large demonstrations and kill judges who did not maintain the death penalty.
"His conviction is set aside and it must be lifted immediately if it is not required in other charges," Nisar said as he read the judgment.
"It is ironic that the appellant, in the Arabic name of the Asian appellant, means" sinner ", one reads in the judgment pronounced by Judge Asif Khosa," but in the circumstances of the case ". she seems to be a person, according to the words of the king of Shakespeare Lear, "more sin than sin."
The Christian farm worker, a 47-year-old mother of three, was sentenced for blasphemy in 2010. She angered other Muslim farm laborers by taking a sip of water in a cup. she had brought them on a hot day. When they demanded that she convert to Islam, she refused, which prompted a crowd to subsequently claim that she had insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
Bibi remains in Adiala prison, in Rawalpindi, but will be released as soon as the prison officials receive the order of the court.
On Wednesday, the judges noted that no solid evidence of wrongdoing on Bibi's behalf had been presented in court. The three witnesses who appeared, according to observers, presented conflicting accounts from the bar.
The media have been prevented from discussing the case since the verdict was booked on October 8.
Paramilitary security forces have deployed in the capital in the last 24 hours, protecting the enclave of judges and the diplomatic zone. About 300 police officers were stationed to guard the Supreme Court.
On October 13, Khadim Rizvi, leader of a new political party dedicated to the repression of blasphemy, Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), announced that he would "paralyze the country by a few hours." "if Bibi was released.
The demonstrations, small for the moment, have already begun throughout the country. TLP workers have already begun demonstrating in front of the Punjab Assembly in Lahore, while others have rallied to block the roads in Karachi. Others went back to the Faizabad interchange in Islamabad, site of a three-week protest camp organized by the party last year and which paralyzed the capital.
The charge against Bibi automatically entails the death penalty in the Pakistani legal system and, although the state has never executed anyone for this offense, vigilante groups often take matters into their own hands.
Bibi, the first non-Muslim to have been sentenced to death for blasphemy, has been held in solitary confinement for eight years. The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear Bibi's appeal in 2016, but delayed the trial after one of the judges recused himself.
A journalist who visited her in prison before the verdict stated that she appeared to be suffering from memory loss and confusion.
However, on October 7, Ashiq Masih, Bibi 's husband, said that his wife was "spiritually strong" and "ready to die for Christ", adding that she "would never convert to the". Islam".
In February, Pope Francis met Ashiq at the Vatican and the Christian churches in Lahore held fasting and prayer sessions before the verdict.
The case highlights two issues related to Pakistan's blasphemy laws: how to use allegations to settle personal accounts and lower court judges who feel unable to acquit defendants for fear of their life.
The governor of Punjab province, Salmaan Taseer, was badbadinated in 2011 after defending Bibi and calling for reform of the blasphemy laws.
Before the verdict, Bibi's lawyer told AP: "I lost my health. I am a hypertensive patient, my intimacy is totally lost. You must be hidden. "
The lawyers, who did not wish to speak in the minutes, pointed out that, although the Supreme Court has finally taken a stand, the consequences of the trial would encourage the lower courts to refer to the supreme court the cases of blasphemy most low. .
Former Senator Farhatullah Babar praised the verdict by stating that "the honorable judges lit a candle in the darkness and raised hopes of despair".
Shahbaz Taseer, son of the badbadinated governor, Salmaan Taseer, told The Guardian, "This is a huge victory for my father, for Pakistan, for the poor, for the justice system, for all the marginalized people of this country.
"I have seen so much in my very short life that I have never seen anything like it. I was released [from five years in Taliban captivity], the same day as Mumtaz Qadri [the killer of his father] was hanged. But it's even better than that, it's finally justice.
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