World

Pakistan’s top court to decide on Bibi appeal Jan. 29: Lawyer

January 24, 2019
Asia Bibi
Asia Bibi

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Supreme Court will decide on Jan. 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the center of a blasphemy row, a lawyer involved in the case said on Thursday.

If the court refuses to allow the appeal, it will remove the last legal hurdle facing Asia Bibi, who remains in protective custody.

Bibi was on death row for eight years for blasphemy.

The Supreme Court’s decision in October last year to overturn her conviction ignited days of violent demonstrations, with enraged hard-linerss calling for her beheading, mutiny within the powerful military and the assassination of the country’s top judges.

The government has since launched a crackdown on the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party — the hard-line group driving the violent protests —charging its leaders with sedition and terrorism.

But authorities also struck a deal with the protesters to end the violence, forming an agreement which included allowing a final review of the Supreme Court’s judgment.

On Jan. 29, “the court will determine if our appeal against her acquittal is admitted”, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the lawyer who filed the petition seeking an appeal, said.

“Usually the court decides on the same day if the appeal is admitted or not,” he added.

Under Pakistan’s creaky legal system any private citizen can petition the courts on any matter of public interest or human rights, as in the Bibi case.

However legal experts said it would be highly unusual for the Supreme Court to overturn its own decision, especially one that as carefully drafted as the Bibi ruling.

“It is very rare,” lawyer Saad Rasool said.

The three-member bench that will hear the petition will be headed by new Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, considered the country’s top expert in criminal law and who helped draft the decision to acquit Bibi.

Blasphemy continues to be a massively inflammatory issue in Pakistan, where even unproven accusations of insulting Islam can spark lynchings.

Approximately 40 people are believed to be on death row or serving a life sentence for blasphemy, according to a 2018 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Many cases see Muslims accusing Muslims. But rights activists have warned that minorities — particularly Christians — are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores.

Speculation has been rife since Bibi’s acquittal that an asylum deal with a European or North American country may be in the works.

The allegations against her date back to 2009. — AFP


January 24, 2019
HIGHLIGHTS
World
37 minutes ago

KFC Nigeria sorry after wheelchair user refused service at Lagos airport

World
39 minutes ago

India gangster-politician dies after cardiac arrest

World
41 minutes ago

Russia shuts down UN watchdog tracking North Korea sanctions