Daily Archives: 02/02/2011
Aasia Bibi Case
– Muslim councillor receives death threats over blasphemy case
By Rob Crilly, Islamabad
Raza Anjum travelled to Pakistan in December and spent three weeks meeting political leaders urging them to release Asia Bibi, a mother-of-five found guilty of defaming the Prophet Mohammed, a conviction that human rights campaigners say is unsafe.
In one threatening phone call, which he has reported to police, he was told to “stop supporting Christians or he would be made a terrible example out of”. …
Read more : The Telegraph
Four arrested after Bangladesh girl ‘lashed to death’
By Anbarasan Ethirajan
Four people including a Muslim cleric have been arrested in Bangladesh in connection with the death of 14-year-old girl who was publicly lashed.
The teenager was accused of having an affair with a married man, police say, and the punishment was given under Islamic Sharia law.
Hena Begum’s family members said a village court consisting of elders and clerics passed the sentence.
She was alleged to have had the affair with her cousin and received 80 lashes. …
Read more : BBC News, Dhaka
Pakistan: Drop Blasphemy Charges Against 17-Year-Old
– Student’s Case Underscores Urgent Need to Repeal Abusive Law
Pakistan has set the standard for intolerance when it comes to misusing blasphemy laws, but sending a schoolboy to jail for something he scribbled on an exam paper is truly appalling. It’s bad enough that a school official flagged it, but for police and judicial authorities to go ahead and lock up a teenager under these circumstances is mind boggling. – – Bede Sheppard, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch
(New York) – The Pakistani government should immediately drop blasphemy charges against a 17-year-old student and ensure his safe release from detention, Human Rights Watch said today.
The authorities arrested Muhammad Samiullah on January 28, 2011, and charged him under Pakistan’s “blasphemy law,” article 295-C of the criminal code, for allegedly including derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad in his answers on a written school exam in April 2010. According to press reports, police at Shahra Noor Jahan Police Station in Karachi registered a case against Samiullah after receiving a complaint from the chief controller of the intermediate level education board. On January 29, a judicial magistrate, Ehsan A. Malik, ordered Samiullah sent to a juvenile prison pending trial. …
Read more : Human Rights Watch
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