blasphemy - Page 6

Radical Islamists in Pakistan have launched widespread protests against the Supreme Court for overturning Christian mother Asia Bibi’s 2010 death penalty verdict on “blasphemy” charges Wednesday.

Thousands of supporters of the Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) took to the streets of Pakistan over the weekend to demand the execution of a Christian mother facing the death penalty for allegedly committing blasphemy.

(AFP) — The family of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother who faces execution for blasphemy in Pakistan, said they hoped the Supreme Court would free her.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court postponed its ruling on Monday on a final appeal by a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who became the first woman to be sentenced to death in 2010 under the country’s strict blasphemy law.

Pakistani pop star Rabi Pirzada has used her verified Twitter account to call for cartoonists who draw the Prophet Mohammed to be “hanged immediately”, claiming that drawing Islam’s founder is “the worst act of terrorism”.

Ten thousand Islamic radicals have rallied in Pakistan against a ‘Draw Mohammed’ contest in the Netherlands by Geert Wilders, as the South Asian country’s politicians demand global blasphemy laws.

Theresa May has led demands for Boris Johnson to apologise for comparing Islamic burqas and face veils to the appearance of bank robbers and “letterboxes.”

A brewery is removing the Saudi Arabian flag from football World Cup bunting in hundreds of pubs because people were offended that Islamic symbols were displayed in a place serving alcohol.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has described the 2018 Catholic-themed Met Gala, with guests dressed up as cardinals, saints, the Virgin Mary, and even Jesus, as a “powerful evening” in which the guests “were rather respectful of the sacred.”

Contents: Pakistan’s interior minister shot by member of loony anti-blasphemy Barelvi sect; Barelvi sect and Tehreek-e-Labaik political party surge in popularity

The Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Worcester has condemned the eroticized theological writings of a Holy Cross professor who has suggested that Jesus Christ was a “drag king” with “queer desires.”

Conservative activist Lauren Southern has reportedly been banned for life from the United Kingdom for conducting a social experiment on Islamic attitudes to homosexuality and transgenderism in Luton, England.

A top court in Pakistan recently issued a verdict that deems citizens who refuse to identify their religious faith guilty of “betraying the State” and “exploiting the Constitution,” which has established Islam as the country’s religion and the Quran as a collection of guiding principles behind all laws in the nation.

Some young members of Pakistan’s Christian minority have suffered “torture and sexual abuse” at the hands of law enforcement officials looking into blasphemy claims against the victims, reportedly allege human rights groups.

Former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy, has appealed the decision against him, triggering the presence of an estimated “thousands” supporting and condemning him before the North Jakarta District Court on Monday.

A mob of an estimated 3,000 Islamic extremists in Pakistan reportedly called for the beheading of a 17-year-old Christian whose phone, after reappearing days after he lost it, contained blasphemous content that authorities could use to sentence him to life in prison or death.

An Islamic seminary has reportedly issued a fatwa against a song by a young Malayam singer for referencing Mohammad’s wife in a popular movie trailer.

Pakistani authorities have issued an ultimatum to an anti-blasphemy Islamist political party, urging them to stop obstructing the main entrance to Islamabad or face repercussions, a move that potentially spark clashes between the two sides.

An illiterate man accused of writing a Facebook post that allegedly insulted Islam prompted an estimated 20,000-strong angry mob of Muslims to incinerate Hindu homes in a Bangladesh.

Islamabad has doubled down on enforcing Pakistan’s strict and controversial anti-Islamic blasphemy law, forming a regulatory body to monitor and block blasphemous content in cyberspace.

Court cases involving the controversial anti-blasphemy law primarily used against Christian minority group members accused of insulting Islam seldom result in a fair trial in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, often leading to a harsh verdict of life in prison or death, reports Voice of America (VOA).

The perilous condition of free speech around the world is highlighted by a new report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which found blasphemy laws have become “astoundingly widespread” across the world. Some of them specify shockingly severe penalties as well, including torture and death.

A fourth Christian teenager has been arrested in Pakistan on charges of violating blasphemy law after he allegedly burnt a Koran, the British Pakistani Christian Association reported on Tuesday.

A book on terrorism endorsed and touted by H.R. McMaster, the embattled White House National Security Adviser, calls on the U.S. military to respond to any “desecrations” of the Quran by servicemembers with an apology ceremony, and advocates kissing a new copy of the Quran before presenting the Islamic text to the local Muslim public.

Breitbart London has profiled the quartet of North America-based Islamic preachers who serve on the advisory board of the Muslim Vibe; the online magazine and digital media network calling for Raheem Kassam’s book on No Go Zones to be banned.

Police officers in Muslim-majority Pakistan have accused a Christian teenager of committing blasphemy, saying he used derogatory comments against Islam’s Muhammad.

As we contemplate the fallout from CNN’s effort to hunt down and intimidate the creator of a ten-second comedy video, let us note that people have been jailed around the world for social media posts. Here’s what happens when governments and cyber-vigilantes start deciding that certain “hateful” individuals no longer deserve the privilege of online anonymity.

During a hearing held by the Congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Wednesday, an expert on Islam and counterterrorism said that the United States should take a “hard line” when it comes to addressing countries that enforce blasphemy laws that, if broken or perceived to be broken, can prove deadly.

Fresh from the outrageous conviction of Jakarta’s governor on trumped-up blasphemy charges, the leader of an influential Indonesian Islamist organization is targeting ethnic Chinese citizens and their money next.

Muslim-majority Pakistan has sentenced a Christian pastor to life behind bars for allegedly sending out blasphemous texts in another instance of legal abuse of its notorious blasphemy laws.

Saudi Arabian citizen Ahmad Al Shamri has been sentenced to death on charges of “atheism” and “blasphemy” after he uploaded several anti-Islam videos to social media.

Contents: In Pakistan, you may murder anyone with impunity by accusing him of blasphemy first; Even Pakistan is shocked by three blasphemy murders in 11 days

The Indonesian military has filed a police report over a story originating at The Intercept, which claimed protests against the governor of Jakarta were actually part of a plot to overthrow President Joko Widodo.

Pakistani authorities have detained at least 22 individuals in connection to the lynching of a university student accused of committing an act of blasphemy against Islam.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, in a message warning against travel to Pakistan, cites Islamabad’s enforcement of the nation’s strict blasphemy laws, which have primarily targeted Christians and other minorities in the Sunni Muslim-majority country.

A British DJ has been sentenced to a year in jail in Tunisia for “offending public morality” after he played a dance music remix of the Muslim call to prayer in a nightclub.