Pakistani lawyers' group behind spike in blasphemy cases

[FrodosPet]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pakistan-blasphemy-lawyers-idUSKCN0W905G

Sun Mar 6, 2016 9:33pm EST

A little-known alliance of hundreds of lawyers in Pakistan is behind the rise in prosecutions for blasphemy, a crime punishable by death that goes to the heart of an ideological clash between reformers and religious conservatives.

The group, whose name translates as The Movement for the Finality of the Prophethood, offers free legal advice to complainants and has packed courtrooms with representatives, a tactic critics say is designed to help it gain convictions.

The stated mission of the Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Lawyers' Forum and its leader Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry is uncompromising: to use its expertise and influence to ensure that anyone insulting Islam or the Prophet Mohammad is charged, tried and executed.

"Whoever does this (blasphemy), the punishment is only death. There is no alternative," Chaudhry told supporters crammed into his small office behind the towering red-brick High Court building in the eastern city of Lahore.

~ snip ~

[Archae]

1. We have our own version here in the US.

Like the "Alliance defending Freedom," the lawyer group that represented Kim Davis.

[FrodosPet]

2. The "Alliance Defending Freedom" is helping convict people of blasphemy?

Crap, we gotta do something about blasphemy and apostasy laws here in the United States. I had no idea that people in America were sitting on death row for making Jesus jokes.

[Matrosov]

3. Asia Bibi

The Asia Bibi case is an excellent example of how it works in Pakistan. She's Christian, and some Muslim women became angry with her for drinking from the same water as them. They insulted her and Christianity, and supposedly she said something like 'Jesus gave his life for the sins of humankind; what did Mohamed ever do to help humankind?'

The women reported Asia for blasphemy. An angry mob showed up at her house and began beating her and her family. The police intervened by nevertheless also arrested her. Asia claimed she never made that comment and the other women fabricated the story because they had been angry with her.

There was public pressure for a conviction and a judge found her guilty and ordered her to be put to death by hanging.

Thankfully, she's still alive right now because the appeal's process is dragging on. However two people who have spoken out in favor of overturning the conviction and freeing Asia have been assassinated. One was a government minister, the other the governor of Punjab. The governor was actually killed by a member of his own security team.

His assassin was actually hanged a few days ago, and an estimated 100,000 people showed up at his funeral to show their support for this supposed martyr.

[Albertoo]

4. These lawyers should be under western sanctions (travel, banking, etc)

It's bigots like these who fuel the flames of religious insanity and provide the 'intellectual' background for the feeble minded who leave for jihad or detonate suicide vests.