Pakistan’s Supreme Court summarily dismisses petition against acquittal of Aasia Bibi

29 January 2019

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Amid tight security the Supreme Court of Pakistan today, 29 January, dismissed a petition seeking to review its decision to acquit Aasia Bibi, the Christian woman who spent almost eight years on death row falsely accused of “blasphemy”.

The judges stated that the petitioner could not find any flaw in the court’s original verdict of 31 October 2018 acquitting Aasia . The Supreme Court had originally dismissed the accusations against her as a “concoction” and described her accusers as untrustworthy.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, chair of the three-member bench, said, “We will not hear the case again. We are hearing [the petition] for the satisfaction of those who gave fatwas [on the verdict] without reading it.”

Asif Saeed Khosa, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, presided over today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding Aasia Bibi’s acquittal

The lawyer for the petitioner, a cleric of a mosque, had demanded that the bench be extended for the review petition, saying it should include Islamic scholars. But the Chief Justice refused this request saying, “How is this a matter of religion? Has the verdict not been given on merit?”

Authorities in Islamabad made stringent security arrangements for today’s hearing, deploying paramilitary troops in sensitive areas of the capital. After Aasia Bibi’s acquittal last year, widespread street protests erupted.

Christian wife and mother Aasia Bibi angered Muslim co-workers on 14 June 2009 by drinking from the shared cup when she brought them a bucket of water as they picked crops together on a sweltering summer’s day. The Muslims considered that her action made the water “unclean”

The present whereabouts of Aasia Bibi are unknown and remain confidential for security reasons. After her release from Multan’s woman women’s prison on 7 November 2018, she was flown to Islamabad and taken to an undisclosed place amid concerns for her safety and that of her family.

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