Asia Bibi

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Asia Noreen ( Bibi ) ( Urdu آسیہ بی بی, * 1971) is a Pakistani Catholic . She was sentenced to death by a court in Nankana on November 8, 2010, as the first woman in Pakistan's history for blasphemy . The court found it proven that the Christian had insulted the Prophet Mohammed , thereby violating Sections 295 B and C of the Pakistani Criminal Code. Numerous international protests have called for their release or pardon. Her family has gone into hiding because of multiple threats. Two Pakistani politicians who supported them were murdered in 2011.

On October 31, 2018, Asia Bibi was acquitted by the Pakistani Supreme Court. After the acquittal, religious fanatics called for rebellion against the government. On January 29, 2019, the acquittal was confirmed by the highest court. After a long period of uncertainty, Bibi was able to leave for Canada on May 8, 2019.

Personal environment

The husband and a daughter of Asia Bibi with Pope Francis in Vatican City, April 2015

Asia Bibi grew up in Ittanwali, a village in the Punjab Province in eastern Pakistan. She married Ashiq Masih (* around 1960), a brickworker who brought three children into the marriage, and had two more children with him. At the time of her arrest, she was working on the farm of landowner Mohammed Idrees. Her family and two others make up the Christian minority in the village, which is inhabited by around 1,500 families.

accusations

The alleged act is said to have been preceded by a dispute between Muslim workers on the farm in Ittanwali and Asia Bibi. According to this, Bibi fetched water for the group and was then asked to profess Islam, as the other women argued that they would otherwise not be able to drink the water. As a result, a discussion had broken out between those present. The descriptions of all those involved agree up to this point. According to the women, Asia Bibi is said to have claimed that Jesus Christ and not Mohammed was the true prophet of God, which she denies.

After the incident, Asia Bibi fled to her family. A few days later, on June 19, 2009, residents of the village tried to bring them under their control and to punish them, which was prevented by the police, informed by the Christians in the village. She took Bibi into custody - according to the authorities, to protect her from further attacks. Bibi was not released in the period that followed. Instead, the state brought blasphemy charges against the woman.

Indictment and conviction

As a result, charges were brought against Asia Bibi under pressure from Islamic clergymen. A first hearing took place on October 14, 2009, and the verdict came on November 8, 2010. Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging and to pay a fine of two and a half annual salaries, around 850 euros. In his judgment, the judge spoke of an undoubted guilt and excluded mitigating circumstances.

Bibi's husband announced that he would like to appeal. The appeal was dismissed by the Lahore High Court in October 2014 , after which there was only one appeal to the Pakistani Supreme Court . According to press reports, no death sentence for blasphemy has ever been carried out in Pakistan and many of those convicted have been released by appellate courts . The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and in October 2016 the case was on the list of cases for the first time.

acquittal

On October 31, 2018, Asia Bibi was acquitted by the Pakistani Supreme Court . Judge Asif Said Khosa stated in an explanation of the judgment that Jesus is also a holy prophet in Islam and the holy Bible is a book that was revealed by Almighty Allah. In this respect, the actions of the other women who refused to acknowledge Jesus Christ were no less blasphemous. The holy prophet Mohammed declared that Christians were the allies of Islam; the corresponding statement made by Muhammad to the monks in the monastery of Saint Catherine on Sinai in around the year 628 (see letter of protection from Muhammad ) referred not only to them, but to all Christians.

Religious fanatics called for rebellion against the state and demanded the killing of Bibi and the three judges of the Supreme Court. Radical Islamists around the Tehreek-e-Labaik party organized mass protests against Bibi's acquittal and demanded a revision of the case. The government gave in to this demand after negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Labaik. Bibi was also banned from leaving Pakistan. On November 7, 2018, Bibi was released from prison and taken to an undisclosed location.

Asia Bibi's defense attorney stated in an interview that he was “very, very happy” about the acquittal and that his client was now free to do what she liked. When asked whether his client could and will stay in Pakistan, he replied that he did not think so. Anyone who has been accused of blasphemy in this country can no longer live here. He is very concerned about "all these fundamentalist groups". The Islamic clergyman in Bibis' hometown said that if two courts passed a judgment and a third overturned it, people might feel called upon to take the law into their own hands.

According to the Curia Cardinal Pietro Parolin in November 2018, the Vatican City offered Bibi neither asylum nor diplomatic support . According to Parolin, it is an intra-Pakistani matter, the best possible solution is hoped for. Bibi's lawyer Saif-ul-Malook fled to the Netherlands . The Foreign Office of Germany agreed to Asia Bibi and her family to the asylum process to allow entry into Germany.

While Asia Bibi was in prison, Punjab Province Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated on January 4, 2011 by one of his bodyguards, a radical Islamist. On November 2, 2011, the Christian minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti , suffered a similar fate. He was shot dead by a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan splinter group in Islamabad. Both had spoken out against the blasphemy laws and for the release of Asia Bibi.

Due to the rejection of the appeal application, Bibi was finally acquitted on January 29, 2019. After initial information, she then left Pakistan for Canada. On February 9, 2019, it became known that she was still being held in a kind of detention room in Pakistan. She actually arrived in Canada on May 8, 2019.

In May 2019, a video was published of an Islamist whose name was unknown who came to Canada to cruelly kill her.

In an interview with the BBC on February 28, 2020, Asia Bibi stated that she continues to regard Pakistan as her home and wants to return there as soon as circumstances permit. She is also proud that it was a Pakistani court that acquitted her of the allegations.

Public reception

The indictment and the several months long process initially met with little media coverage. According to his own statement, a Christian-oriented blog reported on the incident for the first time in September 2009. According to Spiegel Online , several Christian organizations were involved in the process during the process. A broader public only became aware of the case after the verdict was announced in a November 9, 2010 Daily Telegraph report . Human Rights Watch called for the paragraph under which Asia Bibi was sentenced to be abolished.

Opposite the dpa expressed Shahbaz Bhatti , Pakistani Minister for Minorities that Asia Bibi should be legally supported. This was probably one of the reasons for his murder in 2011. Markus Löning , Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid , said: “We are monitoring the proceedings against Asia Bibi very closely. We are very concerned about your conviction in the first instance. To prosecute people because of their beliefs, even to sentence them to death, is by no means acceptable. "

Pope Benedict XVI appealed to the Pakistani government at the end of the general audience on November 17, 2010: “These days the international community is following with great concern the difficult situation of Christians in Pakistan, who are often victims of violence and discrimination […] Today I bring my spiritual ones I especially like to express to Ms. Asia Bibi and her family members, while I ask that her full freedom be restored as soon as possible. "

Assassination related

Governor Salman Taseer

On January 4, 2011, the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer , was murdered in the Kohsar market in Islamabad by a member of his life guards named Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri. It was reported that the assassin shot the governor dead for comments on the Asia Bibi case and his opposition to the blasphemy law. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan , an Islamist party from the Barelwi movement , protested against the conviction of the murderer and Bibi's acquittal .

Minister Shahbaz Bhatti

On March 2, 2011, the Minister for Religious Minorities in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti , was ambushed and killed by three armed men on his way to his ministry. The Taliban confessed to the attack , threatening opponents of Pakistan's blasphemy law with death in a letter. "If I have to die for my attitude, then that's the way it is," said the minister, who had spoken out in favor of Asia Bibi in the past. Asif Ali Zardari , President of Pakistan, condemned the attack. Bhatti was the only Christian in the Pakistani government.

Brother-in-law murdered

Younus went to his farm on May 24, 2020 and did not return home at night. The next morning, his body was found in the courtyard with his throat cut.

Publications

  • with Anne-Isabelle Tollet: Save me! Sentenced to death for a cup of water . Weltbild, Augsburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86365-057-5 .
  • with Anne-Isabelle Tollet: Save me! A Pakistani Christian woman is fighting against her execution . Knaur 2013, ISBN 978-3-426-78538-6 .
  • with Anne-Isabelle Tollet: Enfin libre! . Editions du Rocher, Monaco 2020, ISBN 978-2-26810240-5 .
  • with Anne-Isabelle Tollet: Free at last! My way out of captivity . Renovamen Verlag, Bad Schmiedeberg 2020, ISBN 978-3-95621-139-3 .

literature

  • Joseph Scheppach: Asia Bibi. A woman believes for her life . Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2020, ISBN 978-3-7655-0738-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Age information varied in the media at the time of the judgment, BBC and Focus.de speak of 45 years. According to Welt.de , the latter information comes from an older source . Latest sources such as the daily mail speak for 1971 as the year of birth, accessed on January 12, 2019
  2. ↑ Other sources speak of Sheikhupura as the seat of the court, for example arlingtoncardinal.com (November 8, 2010) and Spiegel Online (November 11, 2010), accessed on November 12
  3. ^ Pakistani Christian woman appeals over death sentence , accessed November 12, 2010
  4. ↑ Free Asia Bibi! Christian Woman Sentenced to Death in Pakistan under 'Blasphemy Law' ( November 18, 2010 memento in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 12, 2010
  5. ↑ Release of Asia Bibi required ( October 2011 ) ( Memento from October 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Christian's Death Verdict Spurs Holy Row In Pakistan NPR , December 14, 2010
  7. ↑ a b c d Blasphemy in Pakistan: Christian is supposed to die on the gallows , accessed on November 12, 2010
  8. ↑ a b Horror over death sentence against Christin welt.de, November 11, 2010
  9. ↑ Mst. Asia Bibi v. The State , 2014 LHC 8283 ( January 2, 2015 memento on the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Vatican Radio: Pakistan: Court upholds Asia Bibi's death sentence ( Memento of October 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), October 16, 2014
  11. ↑ a b Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan 'for blasphemy' , accessed on November 12, 2010
  12. ^ New law in Pakistan: Murder is not a question of honor , NZZ, October 8, 2016
  13. ↑ Asia Bibi acquitted in blasphemy case (English), October 31, 2018, accessed on October 31, 2018
  14. ↑ Death sentence against Christian in Pakistan overturned Spiegel Online, October 31, 2018, accessed on October 31, 2018
  15. ↑ Asif Saeed Khan Khosa: Asia Bibi case: Justice Asif Saeed Khosa's additional note . Published on thenews.com.pk on October 31, 2018, accessed November 1, 2018
  16. ↑ SZ, Pakistan is confusing Asia Bibi , November 8, 2018
  17. ^ Controversy over Christin Asia Bibi: Pakistan's government bows to pressure from the Islamists . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 4, 2018]).
  18. ↑ After Christian's acquittal: Pakistan's government bows to protests by Islamists . In: Spiegel Online . November 3, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 4, 2018]).
  19. ↑ Blasphemy case in Pakistan: Asia Bibi released from prison . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 7, 2018]).
  20. ↑ a b Asia Bibi: Christian leaves Pakistan after blasphemy acquittal. BBC News, May 8, 2019, accessed May 8, 2019 .
  21. ↑ The Vatican does not offer the Catholic Asia Bibi asylum. kath.net from December 19, 2018
  22. ^ Carlos Esteban: Parolin sobre Asia Bibi: “Es un asunto interno de Pakistán”. infovaticana.com from December 19, 2018
  23. ↑ Threatened Christian Asia Bibi wants to leave for Germany. In: welt.de , November 11, 2018.
  24. ↑ Pakistani court acquits Asia Bibi for good. In: Deutsche Welle. January 29, 2019, accessed January 29, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Asia Bibi on the way to Canada! kath.net from January 29, 2019, accessed on January 31, 2019
  26. ↑ Asia Bibi not free? In: Deutschlandfunk . February 9, 2019, accessed February 9, 2019 . Asia Bibi is apparently being held in Pakistan. In: Tagesspiegel . February 11, 2019, accessed February 28, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Islamist claims he has landed in Canada to kill Asia Bibi. In: The Post Millennial. May 15, 2019, accessed May 21, 2019 (Canadian English).
  28. ^ Asia Bibi: I always believed I would be freed. BBC News, February 28, 2020, accessed February 29, 2020 .
  29. ↑ PRAY: Pakistani woman sentenced to death
  30. ↑ Death sentence in Pakistan: Criticism of the Blasphemy Act orf.at, November 12, 2010
  31. ^ Blasphemy in Pakistan: Minister wants to stand up for Christin , spiegel.de, November 12, 2010
  32. ↑ Call for Christians in Pakistan and for the liberation of Asia Bibis kath.net, November 17, 2010
  33. ↑ Pakistan: Taliban Kill Christian Ministers , Spiegel Online , accessed March 2, 2011
  34. ↑ Pakistan's Asia Bibi's Brother-In-Law's Body Found With Throat Slit. Retrieved May 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Bibi, Asia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Noreen, Asia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pakistani Catholic
DATE OF BIRTH between 1964 and 1971