Pakistan blasphemy case appeal delayed by judge recusal

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing for the final appeal against the death sentence for a Christian woman who was accused of insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad, after a senior judge withdrew from the bench.

In his letter to the court's chief justice, Judge Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman said he had a "conflict of interest" in the controversial Asia Bibi case, as he had been on the bench that upheld the death penalty of an elite police officer who killed former Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer in 2011, after Taseer spoke in favor of Bibi.

"I was a part of the bench that was hearing the case of Salman Taseer and this case is related to that," said Rehman.

Bibi, an agricultural laborer, was sentenced to death in 2010 for blasphemy after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a row with other workers. She denies the charge.

Rights group say the blasphemy law is often exploited to settle personal scores against religious minorities and should be annulled, while its supporters say it allows courts to deal with the cases to avoid mob justice.

However, blasphemy remains a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan and despite the law many have been killed by angry mobs without being given a chance to appear before a court.

A Christian couple was publicly lynched by a mob in northeastern Lahore city in November 2014 for allegedly making similar insulting remarks about Islam.

There are nearly 600 cases of blasphemy pending in the courts, two-thirds of which involve Muslims.