Pakistani Christian Aasia Bibi’s death sentence for blasphemy allegations stayed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. A three-member bench of the Lahore Supreme Court has granted leave to appeal to Aasia Bibi and stated that it is essential to examine her case for administration of justice. The Supreme Court has also suspended the decision of…
Two Christian brothers have been arrested on blasphemy allegations after one of them was accused of having disrespectful material on his website. A case has been registered against Qaisar and Amoon Ayub of Lahore relating to accusations dating back to 2011. According to Qaisar he closed the account in 2009 but one of his Muslim…
Nine Pakistani Christians who were arrested after being accused of being involved in the aftermath of the Youhanabad tragedy have been granted bail. They were met by CLAAS upon leaving jail and taken to its office which is next to Youhanabad. At the office they had a thanksgiving prayer before going to their homes happy,…
People have been banned by the Pakistani government from translating Islamic Arabic names and words into English. According to reports, on June 4 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved a summary prohibiting English translation of Islamic terms like Allah, Masjid, Sala’at and Rasool, into English as God, Mosque, Prayer and Prophet. The decision from the prime…
A Christian family had their faces painted black, their heads shaved and a garland of shoes placed around their necks, before being paraded through a village following blasphemy accusations. The attack was prompted when the Muslim wife of a milkman, Kaneez Asghar, asked for a plastic sheet – which had some Arabic script on it…
Nine Pakistani Christians who were arrested after being accused of being involved in the aftermath of the Youhanabad tragedy have been granted bail. Lahore High Court heard from CLAAS’s lawyer Tahir Bashir who argued that the police had falsely implicated them in the case. It granted Riaz Masih, Nazir Masih, Tariq Masih, Arshad Masih, Asif…
The Pakistani Government has been asked to provide better security for its minorities, by its own Interior Minister. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has asked the provincial home departments to conduct a security audit for minority communities and prepare a special security plan for including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ismailis and Bohras, by next week. It comes…
The police have registered a case against 700 people who attacked the Christian colony Sandha, Dhup Sarri, Lahore after accusations were made against Christian Humayun Faisal for burning Quranic pages. On May 24 the Muslim mob attempted to burn Humayun alive and set a local church on fire. But after a long scuffle, the police…
The Anti-terrorist court of Pakistan has denied bail to 18 Christians who are in custody in connection with the lynching of two Muslims in Youhanabad and a violent attack on the Metro. Yesterday CLAAS’ lawyers appeared at court to to make the application, but Judge Mr. Muhammad Qasim, dismissed the bail application. There is 30…
A draft bill has been finalised by the government, and will next be put before the government for approval. To combat the growing abuse of the law, the proposal will also introduce severe penalties against those who make false allegations of blasphemy. Prepared by the interior ministry, the legislation aims to make sure that vigilantes…
