France decries blasphemy charge against Pakistani girl

"France calls on the Pakistani authorities to free this young girl."


Afp August 21, 2012

PARIS: France on Tuesday added its voice to mounting international concern over the arrest on blasphemy charges of a young Christian girl in Pakistan.

The girl, Rimsha, is reported to have Down's syndrome. She faces the death penalty for allegedly burning pages with verses from the Holy Quran.

French foreign ministry spokesman Vincent Floreani said Paris welcomed an announcement by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that he would look into the case.

"France calls on the Pakistani authorities to free this young girl," he added.

"We would also recall that the very existence of a crime of blasphemy is in breach of fundamental liberties, the freedom of religion or of conviction as well as the freedom of speech.

"We call on Pakistan to respect its international commitments in this respect."

Zardari has asked the interior ministry to submit a report on the case, the details of which remain unclear.

Reports in Pakistan have suggested the allegations against her were triggered after she burnt papers collected from a garbage pile for cooking.

COMMENTS (112)

Waqas | 11 years ago | Reply

Denial of Jews holocaust is a crime in a number of European countries. Freedom of speech doesnt come into play there. Just a day old story, 03 French tourists arrested and prosecuted by Srilanka for insulting Budha by taking pictures in funny poses because they consider Budha as sacred. No hue and cry on this story yet.. But when Muslims condemn or protest burning (far more than insult) of their holy book, the whole world's so called champions of human rights get out of mothballs

Waqas | 11 years ago | Reply

@zoom:

If a muslim burns Bible or any other holy book, I'll be the first one to support a stern action against him/her. As far as arresting a child is concerned, did I ever support it in any of my comments? You better read my comments first before bothering to comment on me. Extremist Pastor Terry Jones burnt Quran and muslims in return protested by burning his effigy. Why didn't they burn Bible instead?

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ