PAKISTAN: Court rejects appeal on blasphemy acquittal

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of a Christian woman charged with blasphemy, standing by its earlier verdict that sparked days of protests, death threats and nationwide chaos.  The country’s top court in the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, dismissed the review petition against Aasia Bibi, who spent eight years on death row for blasphemy […]

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of a Christian woman charged with blasphemy, standing by its earlier verdict that sparked days of protests, death threats and nationwide chaos.  The country’s top court in the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, dismissed the review petition against Aasia Bibi, who spent eight years on death row for blasphemy before being released last October. The three-judge panel said arguments of the lawyer acting on behalf of the petitioners did not satisfy the judges. “On merit, this petition is dismissed,” Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said in court.