![Pakistan Supreme Court upholds acquittal of Christian woman accused of blasphemy](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/01/Asia_Bibi_5222932111.jpg)
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 Islamist extremists who have called for her execution.
Bibi’s initial conviction stemmed from an altercation with her Muslim women coworkers who said they would not drink water from Bibi because she was not pure enough. Heated words were exchanged and later falsely exaggerated to incriminate Bibi. The trial court convicted her of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad. Though Bibi initially confessed to the crime, she claimed at trial that the confession was false and a result of coercion and undue influence.
Though blasphemy is considered a heinous and non-tolerated crime in Pakistan, the court’s decision is supported by Pakistan’s Constitution and a 2016 decision in which the court emphasized that the state is “to ensure that no innocent person is compelled or constrained to face an investigation or a trial on the basis of false or trumped up allegations regarding commission of such an offence.”