Search Results for: blasphemy

The Lahore Sessions Court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced Christian factory worker Asif Pervaiz to death for blasphemy. Pervaiz has been in custody since 2013 when he was first charged with blasphemy for messages he sent to his former supervisor, Muhammad Saeed Khokher. Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi sentenced Pervaiz to serve three years in prison [...]

On 9th January 2015, in front of the Jeddah Mosque, a Saudi activist and blogger named Raif Badawi was publicly given the first fifty out of the thousand lashes he was sentenced with, for ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels.’ The disturbing incident instantaneously became viral on social media and the #JeSuisRaif movement gained momentum. Saudi [...]

The parliament of Scotland introduced a bill on Friday to modernize hate crimes laws, including a section that would abolish the crime of blasphemy. The purpose of the proposed legislation is “to modernise, consolidate and extend existing hate crime law,” updating the list of protected characteristics, including for the first time adding age to the [...]

A UN human rights expert presented a report to the Human Rights Council Tuesday highlighting an increase in the use of anti-blasphemy and anti-apostasy laws to crack down on dissent. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, noted the increased threat to freedom of expression, writing, “Freedom of religion or [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday upheld the acquittal of Christian woman Asia Bibi, who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy. The court overturned her 2010 blasphemy conviction and death sentence in October for failure to proffer enough evidence that Bibi indeed committed the crime.  The review petition was filed by [...]

The Domestic Violence Act of 2018 went into effect in Ireland on Wednesday, which includes the offense of coercive control. The offense is committed when a person: knowingly and persistently engages in behaviour that- (a) is controlling or coercive, (b) has a serious effect on a relevant person, and (c) a reasonable person would consider [...]

In a referendum held on Friday, October 26, 2018, the people of Ireland voted to amend the Irish Constitution to remove the word blasphemy from Article 40.6.1, which declared that “he publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.” This constitutional amendment enables [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday overturned the 2010 blasphemy conviction and death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Catholic woman, for failure to proffer enough evidence that Bibi indeed committed the crime. The court’s decision rested on Pakistan’s Constitution and a 2016 decision in which the court emphasized that the state is “to ensure that [...]

The Irish people voted on Friday in favor of changing their constitution to remove the word blasphemy. Each of the 40 constituencies of Ireland voted in favor of the 37th amendment with 44 percent of eligible voters taking part in the poll. The constitution previously stated, in Article 40.6.1, “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, [...]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Friday that an Austrian court’s conviction for disparaging religious doctrines did not violate the defendant’s freedom of expression. The case centered around two seminars hosted by Ms S in 2009. During the talks, titled “Basic Information on Islam,” Ms S referred to the Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile. Subsequently, [...]