Legal Commentary

Death Sentence for Blasphemy in Pakistan

By Eugene Volokh

The Herald-Sun (Australia) reports:

A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother-of-five for blasphemy ....

Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim country?s controversial laws on the subject ...

Asia?s case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields.

But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.

A few days later the women went to a local cleric and alleged that Asia made made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.

The cleric went to local police, who opened an investigation....

Sentencing her to hang, Judge Naveed Iqbal ?totally ruled out? any chance that Asia was falsely implicated and said there were ?no mitigating circumstances?, according to a copy of the verdict seen by Agence-France Presse....

The sentence is being appealed. The story also notes that ?Last July, two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet critical of the Prophet Mohammed were shot dead outside a court in Punjab.?

Thanks to Prof. Howard Friedman (Religion Clause) for the pointer.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on November 12, 2010 (boomark / email).