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Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity or the irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy

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Apostasy - The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1QJDB_enIT612IT612&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Apostasy

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http://www.clarionproject.org/news/pakistani-supreme-court-stays-christian-womans-execution

 

Pakistan – Supreme Court Stays Christian Woman’s Execution for Blasphemy

 

July 22, 2015 - Asia Bibi was framed by women in her village and charged with blasphemy, a capital offense for refusing to convert to Islam.

 

The cover of Asia Bibi's book, Blasphemy.

The cover of Asia Bibi's book, Blasphemy.

 

The Supreme Court in Pakistan stayed the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death.

As early as last year, a high court in Lahore upheld the sentence. The Supreme Court also suspended that decision.

The 50-year-old mother of three daughters was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 after Muslim women in her village provoked a confrontation with her when Bibi refused to convert to Islam.

The incident occurred when Bibi complied with a request by a Muslim woman to bring her water. The woman then insulted Bibi, saying that Muslims could not drink water brought by non-Muslims. Bibi replied by asking the woman whether all people are not human beings, a question which caused an uproar in the village.

Not long after, a Muslim mob led by a local cleric viciously attacked Bibi and her family. She was saved by police who took her to their station and charged her with blasphemy on the basis of a complaint lodged by the cleric. Bibi was subsequently put on trial and sentenced to death by hanging.

Bibi told her story in a book called Blasphemy, where she described her ordeal as well as her experineces in prison. The book was dictated to her husband and then written by French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet. Proceeds from the book are used to support Bibi’s family, which has been forced into hiding.

Bibi is the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. While no one has been executed by the courts, many Christians accused of blasphemy have been killed by Muslim mobs either in prison or after they have been released.

Bibi’s case made international headlines after two members of the Pakistani government, who voiced their support for her, were assassinated. Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was shot by the Taliban who labelled him an “infidel Christian” and the governor of eastern Punjab, Salman Taseer, was killed by one of his bodyguards after visiting Bibi in prison.

During his trial, Taseer’s killer was showered with rose petals in court by lawyers. The judge who ended up convicting him was forced to flee the country to save his life.

Despite the danger, hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for Bibi’s release. Protests have also been held in support of her release.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often exploited by those with personal vendettas against the accused. Blasphemy has no specific definition in Pakistani law. Further, the accused is often prevented from knowing his offense since the offending statements or actions may not be brought to court (since that may be considered blasphemy as well).

Oftentimes, the accused are left to languish in prison with the hope they will be killed by a mob or poisoned while their cases are purposely delayed during the appeals process. 

Asia has been held in prison since 2009. In June, when her family visited, they reported that Bibbi’s failing health had taken a turn for the worse.

Bibi is suffering from intestinal bleeding, vomiting blood and is was said to be so weak that she can hardly walk.  In addition, she is having trouble eating and has a constant pain in her chest.

 

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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/28/which-countries-still-outlaw-apostasy-and-blasphemy/

 

WHICH COUNTRIES STILL OUTLAW APOSTASY & BLASPHEMY?

By Angelina Theodorou – May 28, 2014

apostasy laws around the world

Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in dozens of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain even today.

Earlier this month, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said it was “deeply disturbed” that Sudan had sentenced a pregnant woman to death for apostasy, the act of abandoning one’s faith — including by converting to another religion. (The woman later gave birth in jail.) And in Pakistan, the country’s most popular TV station was the latest target in a rash of recent government accusations of blasphemy, defined as speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or the divine.

A new Pew Research analysis finds that as of 2012, nearly a quarter of the world’s countries and territories (22%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies, and one-in-ten (11%) had laws or policies penalizing apostasy. The legal punishments for such transgressions vary from fines to death.

blasphemy laws around the world

We found that laws restricting apostasy and blasphemy are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, where 14 of the 20 countries (70%) criminalize blasphemy and 12 of the 20 countries (60%) criminalize apostasy. While apostasy laws exist in only two other regions of the world – Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa – blasphemy laws can be found in all regions, including Europe (in 16% of countries) and the Americas (31%).

We counted and categorized reports of the presence of these laws in 2012 as part of an extension of our research on restrictions on religion around the world. Nearly three-in-ten countries in the world (29%) had a high or very high level of government restrictions in 2012 – these countries include about 64% of the world’s population, according to our report.

This research relied on 18 widely cited, publicly available sources from groups such as the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have their origins in the country’s colonial past, when British colonial rulers first introduced penalties for insulting religious beliefs. These laws remained in effect after Pakistan’s independence in 1947 and have since increased in severity. In 2012 alone, there were more than two dozen blasphemy cases filed in the country.

But Pakistan is not alone. Nine of the 50 countries in the Asia-Pacific region (18%) had blasphemy laws in 2012, and in Europe such laws were found in seven out of 45 nations (16%). In November 2012, the Dutch parliament dissolved its blasphemy law, which was drafted in the 1930s and had not been used for half a century.

In the Americas, 11 out of 35 countries (31%) had blasphemy laws, including the Bahamas, where the publication or sale of blasphemous material can be punished with up to two years imprisonment. The U.S. does not have any federal blasphemy laws, but as of 2012, several U.S. states – including Massachusetts and Michigan – still had anti-blasphemy laws on the books. However, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would almost certainly prevent the enforcement of any such law.

In South America, Peru’s federal law does not formally prohibit blasphemy, but local government authorities have enforced penalties for it. In October 2012, a district mayor in Lima closed a public art exhibit that featured a naked statue of Christ after religious groups condemned it as blasphemy. According to the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, representatives of the local art community “expressed concern over censorship and freedom of speech” after the incident.

Blasphemy laws are least common in sub-Saharan Africa (three of 48 countries), according to 2012 data. In April of 2012, anti-slavery activists in Mauritania were charged and imprisoned for blasphemy after publicly burning religious texts to denounce what the activists viewed as support for slavery in Islamic commentary and jurisprudence.

Apostasy laws are less common worldwide – found in 21 countries, in only three regions of the world. Including Sudan, anti-apostasy measures were in effect in more than half the countries in the Middle East-North Africa region as of 2012.

Five of the 50 countries (10%) in the Asia-Pacific region had apostasy laws. For instance, in the Maldives, all citizens are required to be Muslim, and those who convert may lose their citizenship. In sub-Saharan Africa, just four of the 48 countries (8%) have laws prohibiting apostasy. There were no laws against apostasy in any countries in Europe or the Americas in 2012.

 

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/02/26/religious-hostilities/

February 26, 2015

 

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