Another Pakistani Christian woman charged with Blasphemy

(March 15, 2012) A Pakistani Christian woman has been arrested and charged with blasphemy—on the same day that human-rights activists delivered a petition to the UN on behalf of another Pakistani Christian woman who faces the death sentence on blasphemy charges. The UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva received a petition for the release of Asia Bibi, who was convicted after a highly questionable trial in November 2010. She is now living on death row pending an appeal. Muslim extremists have threatened to kill the mother of 5 if she is released from prison. Anne-Isabelle Tollet, a French Journalist on Tuesday presented the petition on Asia Bibi's behalf. Afterwards she spoke to 400 activists gathered for the Geneva Summit of Human Rights. The petition also describes the poor conditions in which the prisoners is forced to live, a "windowless cell, where she can touch both walls by stretching out her two arms." The signatories also noted that the 'black law' has led to all sorts of abuses as it is used against business rivals or members of ethnic and religious minorities. The petition appeals to "the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to free Asia Bibi." In the meantime, another young Christian woman has been accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. Police in the district of Bahawalnagar, Lahore, charged Shamim, 26, the mother of a five-month baby girl, with insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The alleged incident occurred on 28 February of this year and became public on Tuesday when she was taken into custody by police. According to her family, Shamim was unjustly accused because she refused to convert to Islam. The accusations came from relatives who had recently converted