Source: World Watch Monitor, October 14, 2015
In a landmark judgment on October 7, the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the death sentence of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, 30, who murdered the former Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, a liberal Muslim, because of Taseer’s views on the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.
Liberal Muslims and minority groups welcomed the courageous decision of the Supreme Court’s judges, which affirmed democratic values, including the rule of law, and rejected religious fanaticism in the public sphere.
Human rights activists and minorities have been demanding the repeal of blasphemy laws as these laws have been widely used as a tool against minorities, especially against Christians and Ahmadis.
Former Governor Taseer was murdered for defending an illiterate and poor Pakistani Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was convicted and received the death sentence under the blasphemy law. Her appeal is still pending in the Supreme Court.
» Read full story, and see how this ruling is affecting Asia Bibi (DAWN.com).
» You might also be interested in the plight of hundreds of Pakistani Christian asylum-seekers arrested in Bangkok (Jubilee Campaign) and the Peshawar women fighting the Taliban (The Guardian).