Aasia Bibi’s appeal might not be heard for six years

SC is currently taking up appeals of convicts granted leave in 2009

LAHORE: Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy, might have to wait for at least six years before her appeal against the sentence is fixed for hearing before the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry.

The SC Lahore Registry is currently taking up appeals of death convicts who were granted leave in 2009 and earlier. Last week, a three-member bench of the SC had granted her leave to appeal. Aasia, mother of five, has been in jail for six years.

An SC official said the appeals that were granted leave in 2009 were being taken up by the court. “The petitions granted leave now might be taken up in another six years,” he told The Express Tribune.

Aftab Ahmed Bajwa, a criminal justice expert, too, said the SC’s Lahore Registry was currently taking up the appeals that were granted leave in 2007 and 2008. He said it appeared that Aasia’s appeal would not be fixed for hearing for up to six years. “She will have to wait for at least four years even if she is granted an ‘out of turn’ hearing by the court.” On July 22, a three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had suspended operation of the death sentence awarded to her by a trial court and later confirmed by Lahore High Court (LHC). Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Umar Ata Bandial were the other judges on the bench. The bench had remarked that it was necessary to examine record of the case.



On November 8, 2010, a Nankana Sahib additional district and sessions judge had sentenced her to death and fined her Rs100,000. On November 22, 2014, the LHC had dismissed her appeal and upheld the sentence. She had later challenged the sentence at the SC. Two high-profile politicians – the then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti – were murdered in 2011 after calling for reform of blasphemy law and describing Aasia’s trial as flawed.

According to her statement, she was working in a field when she was asked to fetch water. Several Muslim women labourers objected, saying as a non-Muslim she should not touch the water bowl. At that point, they had an altercation and exchanged harsh worlds. Aasia said the women later levelled blasphemy allegations against her in connivance with the wife of Qari Salaam.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2015.