Asia Bibi: Pakistan Supreme Court set aside death sentence to Christian Women

Guwahati: A Pakistani court has set aside the death sentence of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy, a case that has polarised the nation.

Asia Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours. Inspite of her always maintaining innocence, had to spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement.

The landmark ruling has already set off violent protests by hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws. Demonstrations against the verdict are being held in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Multan. Clashes with police have been reported.

The Red Zone in the capital Islamabad, where the Supreme Court is located, has been sealed off by police, and paramilitary forces have been deployed to keep protesters away from the court.

Chief Justice of the Country’s Supreme Court Saqib Nisarm, who read out the ruling, said Asia Bibi could walk free from jail in Sheikupura, near Lahore, immediately if not wanted in connection with any other case.

Asia who was not present in the court to hear the ruling reacted to the verdict from prison with apparent disbelief

"I can't believe what I am hearing, will I go out now? Will they let me out, really?" AFP news agency quoted her as saying by phone.

What was Asia Bibi accused of?

The incident stems from an argument Asia Bibi, whose full name is Asia Noreen, had with a group of women in June 2009.

They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as her faith had made it unclean.

Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi should convert to Islam and that she made three offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response. She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.

The judges while delivering the verdict said, the prosecution had "categorically failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt". The case was based on flimsy evidence, they said, and proper procedures had not been followed. The alleged confession was delivered in front of a crowd "threatening to kill her".

Even after she is freed, the legacy of her case will continue. Shortly after her conviction a prominent politician, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, was murdered for speaking out in her support and calling for the blasphemy laws to be reformed.

Mumtaz Qadri who allegedly killed Salman Taseer , was executed but has become a cult hero with a large shrine dedicated to him on the outskirts of Islamabad. His supporters also created a political party - campaigning to preserve the blasphemy laws - which gathered around two million votes in this year's general election. Many now fear that the party could create violent unrest in Pakistan in the coming days.

What is blasphemy in Pakistan?

Laws enacted by the British Raj in 1860 made it a crime to disturb a religious assembly, trespass on burial grounds, insult religious beliefs or intentionally destroy or defile a place or an object of worship, punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Several more clauses were added in the 1980s by Pakistan's military ruler Gen Zia ul-Haq:

1980 - up to three years in jail for derogatory remarks against Islamic personages

1982 - life imprisonment for "willful" desecration of the Koran

1986 - "death, or imprisonment for life" for blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad

Asia Bibi's husband and daughter say they fear for their safety in Pakistan. As with her previous trials and appeals, large crowds gathered outside the court in Islamabad on Wednesday demanding her conviction be upheld and the execution carried out.

She has been offered asylum by several countries and is expected to leave the country.

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