Pakistani Christian Woman Asia Bibi Still Waiting For Verdict On Final Death Penalty Appeal

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who has been rotting away in jail on Death Row since 2010 for blasphemy, will soon find out if the Islamist fanatics of that country will get their wish. Unbelievably, death for blaspheming Prophet Mohammad is still part of Pakistan's penal code.

Back in 2009 Bibi was working in the fields picking berries when an argument ensued after her Muslim coworkers took offense when she allegedly drank water from the same container. Or handled the bowl. Or something. Stories differ, so who knows what the actual truth is. But after the quarrel, the Muslim women ran to the local cleric claiming Bibi had blasphemed. Whether she did or not is irrelevant, it's a barbaric practice that should be abolished but continues to this day. In fact, hardliners are calling for stricter enforcement of the law.

 Over the past 8 years there have been a series of appeals all of which have failed. This was the final one, and though the Supreme Court has actually made a decision, they are waiting to announce the verdict. This could be good news, but considering the hardliners are gaining numbers, I tend to think it's not. According to the DailyMail:

On Wednesday Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious political party -- which had a strong showing in nationwide elections earlier this year -- said in a press conference aired via YouTube that if she was freed the justices responsible would meet a "horrible" end.

That's not just an idle threat, people have been assassinated for trying to reform that part of Pakistani  law. And more often than not, angry mobs take the law into their own hands. Back in 2014 I wrote about a Pakistani Christian husband and wife who were beaten to death and then burned for allegedly desecrating a Quran. And a governor back in 2011 was killed for opposing the law and supporting Bibi.

There are some in Pakistan who believe that the blasphemy law needs to go the way of the dinosaurs, but few have the courage to lobby for change because they could wind up dead. That's what happened to Salmaan Taseer in 2011. The politician and businessman, who was governor of Punjab at the time, was murdered by Mumtaz Qadri, one of his bodyguards, because Taseer was very vocal about his opposition to the blasphemy law. Taseer was also asking for a pardon for Aasia Bibi. He was shot 27 times with a sub-machine gun. And who was considered the hero? Qadri. He even got a mosque named after him. In a middle-class neighbourhood, to boot.

She could ask the President for clemency, but there's no way she could remain in the country. She and her family would be sitting targets, but the hardliners are trying to prevent her from leaving.

Separately on Wednesday, a former spokesman for Islamabad's notorious Red Mosque moved to prevent Bibi from leaving the country by petitioning the capital's High Court to put her on the no-fly list.

Hard to believe that in the 21st century there are brutal, inhumane laws that still exist, supported by blood-lusting religious fanatics.

Read more at Christian Post, and News18.