Poor Christian Pakistani couple languishes on death row for blasphemy

[danieldemol]

'An illiterate Catholic couple, Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagfuta Kausar, were charged with blasphemy in 2013 and sentenced to be hanged in 2014. Ever since, they have been in prison. A verdict on their appeal was to have been handed down earlier this month, but it was delayed — again. The innocent couple has been on death row for six years.

Supporters say that the allegations are baseless. The couple are illiterate in both Urdu, the local language, and English. Yet they were accused of sending a text message written in English. They have denied the charges.

Shafqat and Shagfuta are simple, struggling village people. Shafqat broke his back in 2004 and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. Shagfuta was the only breadwinner for their four children.

There was a “confession” – but it was extorted from the crippled Shafqat under torture. He refused until he was told that his wife would be stripped naked and paraded through the streets. That broke him.'

Read more here: Poor Christian Pakistani couple languishes on death row for blasphemy » MercatorNet

 

[Agnostisch]

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws violate human rights and encourage people to take the law into their own hands.

 

[Polymath257]

Blasphemy laws in general an affront to reason and human dignity.

 

[Koldo]

We need more blasphemy in the world.

 

[danieldemol]

Pakistan 'blasphemy' death row couple's plea for freedom

'Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel have spent the last six years in jail waiting for an appeal against their death sentence for "blasphemy" to conclude.

Now, the family of the poor Christian couple from the central Pakistani town of Gojra hope an end to their ordeal could be in sight; a final hearing at Lahore High Court was scheduled for Wednesday though it was delayed, with a new date due to be announced.

Their lawyer, Saif ul Malook, who also represented Asia Bibi, another Christian woman who had a death sentence for blasphemy successfully overturned, told the BBC the evidence used to convict the couple was deeply flawed.

But, he warned, that judges can be "fearful" of acquitting suspects, in case they are targeted themselves by extremists. Court proceedings have also slowed in recent weeks as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.'

Read more here: Blasphemy death row couple's plea for freedom

 

[Aupmanyav]

They won't be killed for fear of adverse international reaction, as in case of Asia Begum.
There could be delay in judgment in which case their family languishes. I wonder who is taking care of them.
Normally blasphemy is used in Pakistan if a non-muslim woman refuses sexual advances.

 

[danieldemol]

'Pakistan court again delays appeal of couple convicted of blasphemy
Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel have been on death row since 2014 over ‘blasphemous texts’ they deny sending...

...“We are not even given a date for next hearing. The judge keeps delaying the case due to fear, but it’s enough now. It should be heard. I fear for their lives,” said Malook.

“Judges in Pakistan will rarely hear cases of blasphemy until there is political or international pressure. There is no substantive proof against my clients, and they should have been released long ago.”'

Source: Pakistan court again delays appeal of couple convicted of blasphemy

Please add international pressure on Pakistan's government to release these unjustly imprisoned and others.

 

[danieldemol]

'Christian Pakistani couple accused of blasphemy given reprieve after seven years on death row'

..."Today's decision puts an end to the seven-year-long ordeal of a couple who should not have been convicted nor faced a death sentence in the first place," Amnesty International's South Asia deputy director Dinushika Dissanayake said in a statement, calling on authorities to provide security to the couple and their lawyer.'

Source: Christian Pakistani couple accused of blasphemy given reprieve after seven years on death row

It is a limited victory against the extremists who had them arrested, albeit overshadowed by the interim suffering they faced and for which they deserve both security and compensation in my opinion.

 

[Vinayaka]

This case made the western press. One has to wonder how many cases don't get out.