February 13th, 2012
Following the deportation of Hamza Kashgari to Saudi Arabia where he faces the death penalty, Myriam Francois -Cerrah explores the real reason the journalist is being targeted
Tags: Tags: blasphemy, Hamza Kashgari, Islam, Malaysia, Myriam Francois-Cerrah, religion, Saudi Arabia,
February 12th, 2012
Malaysian authorities have deported a Saudi journalist accused of insulting the prophet Mohammed on Twitter, it was reported today. Newspaper columnist Hamza Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia after tweeting a mock conversation between himself and the prophet Mohammed last week that sparked thousands of responses, including death threats. He was arrested and detained upon his arrival in Malaysia last Wednesday. Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.Tags: Tags: blasphemy, Hamza Kashgari, Malaysia, press freedom, Saudi Arabia,
June 28th, 2011
As another person is sentenced to death for defiling Islam’s prophet, Khalid Khattak reports on the continuing debate on the much-abused blasphemy law
January 7th, 2011
Salmaan Taseer’s assassination is the result of years of political uses of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, says Salil Tripathi
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Tags: Tags: Aasia Bibi, blasphemy, Islam, Pakistan, religion, Salil Tripathi, Salmaan Taseer,
November 10th, 2010
Asia Bibi, a Christian mother-of-five, has been sentenced to death for blasphemy. Bibi is accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad during an argument with a group of Muslim women. She has denied the charges and has told investigators that she is being persecuted because of her faith. It is thought she will now appeal in a local court in Sheikhupura, near Lahore. No one has ever been executed under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, most of those convicted are freed on appeal, although 10 defendants are thought to have been murdered whilst on trial.Tags: Tags: Asia Bibi, blasphemy, death penalty, Pakistan, religious persecution,
June 24th, 2010
The Lahore High Court has ordered that several websites, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and YouTube should be blocked by the government. The move came after the court found that the sites carried and promoted “blasphemous” material .Earlier this year, Pakistan blocked Facebook in protest against the “Let’s Draw Mohammed Day” group that appeared on the social networking site.Read more hereApril 20th, 2010
Human rights groups have criticised the Indonesian constitutional court’s decision to uphold a controversial 45 year-old blasphemy law yesterday. The Wahid Institute, the first group to lobby for a review of the law, and many other human rights campaigners for greater religious pluralism have stated that the decision is a “setback for Indonesian democracy”. The law also limits the number of recognised religions in Indonesia to only six: Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Protestantism and Confucianism. The blasphemy law will be applicable mainly to offences against Islam.September 7th, 2009
Afghan student Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh has been freed from prison after he was secretly pardon by Afghanistan’s President Karzai. Kambakhsh was sentenced to death, commuted to imprisonment, after he was accused of circulating an article that questioned the role of women in the Quran.Read more hereTags: Tags: Afghanistan, blasphemy, Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh,