Minister backs new probe in Aasia's case

Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti calls for a thorough re-investigation and fair appeal for Aasya Bibi.

LAHORE: Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti on Thursday called for a thorough re-investigation and fair appeal for Aasia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, after the pope called for her release.

On November 8, Aasia Bibi was sentenced to hang in after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) in 2009.

Bhatti told AFP that Aasia had filed an appeal at the Lahore High Court (LHC).

"We have requested the Punjab government that the trial should be fair in the high court. She must also be provided security in jail," he said.

Aasia's supporters say the case is baseless and that her first trial "was not heard properly," Bhatti said.

"We have, therefore, asked the Punjab government that the case be reinvestigated properly."

Governor Punjab Salman Taseer also expressed his support for a fair trial for Aasia Bibi on Thursday when he tweeted:

Aasia bibi's appeal has been filed in the High Court. I am personally supervising the case.inshallah I will ensure she is not victimised

Pope Benedict XVI this week called for her release and said Christians in Pakistan were "often victims of violence and discrimination."

"I feel close to Aasia Bibi and her family and I ask that she be released as soon as possible," he said on Wednesday.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has said he was told during a visit to Islamabad last week that Pakistan was committed to changing the blasphemy law and promised to join the fight to save Aasia.

Aasia's husband Ashiq Masih confirmed to AFP that the appeal had been filed, but said the family had no contact from the government.

In June 2009, his wife was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields. But 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 Aasia made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).

She was arrested in Ittanwalai village and prosecuted under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.

Rights activists and minority pressure groups said it was the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy, although a Muslim couple were jailed for life last year.