“This case is being directly monitored by the government after it was raised in the EU resolution,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “The forces bankrolling and supporting misuse of blasphemy laws have suffered a major setback due to the couple’s acquittal, and I’m very concerned about their safety,” he said.Ī source in the government told Morning Star News that security agencies have been directed to ensure protection of the couple and their lawyer. Malook said that, like Asia Bibi, the couple will need to be granted asylum abroad due to serious threat to their lives in Pakistan. One of the justices in the appeal, Rizvi, was the same judge who had rejected Asia Bibi’s appeal to the LHC against her death sentence. The charge is so serious that even judges are fearful of conducting hearings and giving decisions on merit.” “It’s unfortunate that innocent people are forced to rot in jails for years on false accusations of blasphemy,” he said. He added that, although delayed, the acquittal highlighted that most blasphemy cases were rooted in personal vendettas. “It’s possible that the Forum led by Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry will challenge the LHC’s decision in the Supreme Court, but I don’t think it will hold due to the weak grounds,” he said. Section 25-D recommends a maximum of three years for intentionally “causing annoyance.”Īccording to Malook, who won freedom for Pakistan’s most high-profile blasphemy convict, Aasiya Noreen (better known as Asia Bibi) in 2018, the prosecution lawyers from the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum did their best to intimidate the judges during the three days of hearing, “but fortunately the judges did not succumb to their pressure.” They were charged under Sections 295-B (insulting the Koran, punishable by life imprisonment), 295-C (insulting Muhammad, punishable by death) and 25-D of The Telegraph Act of 1985. Her husband is paralyzed from the waist down and cannot work. The mother of four children worked as a cleaner at a local missionary school in Gojra.
The couple was convicted in 2014 of sending blasphemous text messages insulting the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, to a local imam and the then-president of the local bar council from a phone number registered in Kausar’s name. The court’s detailed verdict will be released soon, Malook said, adding, “I’m very happy that the court gave a compassionate hearing to my arguments regarding the adulteration of the evidence and testimonies of the prosecution witnesses.”Īs of this writing, Kausar was still at the Central Prison for Women in Multan, while husband Emmanuel was in Central Jail Faisalabad. “Nonetheless, the verdict has been given on merit because the court noted the mala fide of the accusers and how the couple was tortured into confessing the false blasphemy allegation,” Malook said. The EU resolution, which passed overwhelmingly, 662 to 3 with 26 abstaining, also stated that the couple’s appeal had been “postponed multiple times.” It had noted that the couple allegedly had argued with the accuser shortly before the accusations were made. The EU resolution expressed particular concern regarding the case of Kausar and Emmanuel, stating, “The evidence on which the couple were convicted can be considered deeply flawed.” “I believe that the hearing was expedited due to international pressure on the Pakistani government, particularly a resolution passed by the European Union Parliament in April which called for a review of the GSP+ status granted to Pakistan in view of an ‘alarming’ increase in the use of blasphemy accusations in the country.” “It came as a surprise to me, because the LHC had been delaying the hearing for over six years on one pretext or the other,” Malook told Morning Star News. The couple had been sentenced to death seven years ago in a case that drew international condemnation of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh accepted an appeal challenging the death sentence and acquitted Shagufta Kausar, 52, and her husband, 49-year-old Shafqat Emmanuel, on the basis of “adulterated evidence and manipulated testimonies of the prosecution witnesses,” said attorney Saif Ul Malook.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) today acquitted a Christian couple sentenced to death on charges of blaspheming Islam, their attorney said.
(Morning Star News, File photo courtesy of family) Shafqat Emmanuel and wife Shagufta Kausar.
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