New date set for Asia Bibi blasphemy trial appeal

Asia Noreen Bibi is a Pakistani Catholic Christian woman who was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court, receiving a sentence of death by hanging. In June 2009, Noreen was involved in an argument with a group of Muslim women with whom she had been harvesting berries after the other women became angry at her for drinking the same water as them. She was subsequently accused of insulting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, a charge she denies, and was arrested and imprisoned. In November 2010, a Sheikhupura judge sentenced her to death. If executed, Noreen would be the first woman in Pakistan to be lawfully killed for blasphemy.[3][4]

The first hearing of the appeal process for Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman sentenced to death in Pakistan on charges of blasphemy has been scheduled for 27 May, Fides reports.

There are cases where Islamic leaders have issued a "fatwa" (religious decree) publicly inviting the faithful to kill the alleged "blasphemer", with extra-judicial executions, trampling the rule of law. For example in January 2011 Mumtaz Qadri, the man who shot and killed the Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, guilty of having defended Asia Bibi, is now hailed as a "hero" and a mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad, was named after him.” “For this reason, Christians who are often accused, if released, are forced to leave the country in order to save their life. And even their lawyers are victims of intimidation and threats.

Continued here