DOSSIER – In this archive photo from 24 November 2017, the leader of Pakistan's radical religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, is praying during a sit-in in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical Islamist cleric who disrupted daily life with rallies across Pakistan as a result of the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case, said that he was arrested Friday, November 23, 2018 by the police in the city of Lahore. less
DOSSIER – In this archive photo from 24 November 2017, the leader of Pakistan's radical religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, is praying during a sit-in in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical … more
Photo: B.K. Bangash, AP
DOSSIER – In this archive photo from 24 November 2017, the leader of Pakistan's radical religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, is praying during a sit-in in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical Islamist cleric who disrupted daily life with rallies across Pakistan as a result of the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case, said that he was arrested Friday, November 23, 2018 by the police in the city of Lahore. less
DOSSIER – In this archive photo from 24 November 2017, the leader of Pakistan's radical religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, is praying during a sit-in in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical … more
Photo: B.K. Bangash, AP
Pakistan arrests 300 supporters of detained religious
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani police have arrested about 300 supporters of a radical Islamic cleric in detention, who has disrupted daily life through national rallies after acquittal of a person. Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.
Police chief Tahir Mahmood said Saturday that supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party were arrested in Punjab province following the arrest of its leader, Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
The police also arrested dozens of supporters of Rizvi as they went down the street to protest his arrest the following night.
Supporters of Rizvi organized violent rallies against the acquittal of Aasia Bibi by the Supreme Court. He called for more protests on Sunday in the capital Islamabad.
Pakistani extremist Islamists have threatened to kill anyone who insults Islam or denounces the blasphemy law.