Fearing 'angry mob', lawyer of freed Christian woman leaves Pakistan

[rooster59]

Fearing 'angry mob', lawyer of freed Christian woman leaves Pakistan

By Saad Sayeed and Asif Shahzad

 

FILE PHOTO: Saiful Mulook (L) the lawyer of Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy against Islam, leaves after the Court overturned the conviction, in Islamabad, Pakistan October 31, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

 

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani lawyer who helped a Christian woman overturn her death sentence for blasphemy said on Saturday he had left the country in fear of his life after her acquittal earlier this week sparked street protests by Islamists.

 

Leaders of the ultra-Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) group blocked main roads in Pakistan's biggest cites for three days, calling for the murder of the Supreme Court judges who acquitted Asia Bibi on Wednesday -- urging their cooks and servants to kill them.

 

Saiful Mulook had kept a low profile during the years he represented Bibi, a mother-of-five who has been on death row since 2010, due to the highly sensitive nature of the case. Two politicians who had tried to help her have been assassinated.

 

Mulook told Reuters in a WhatsApp message he had gone abroad "just to save (my) life from angry mob" and because of fears for the safety of his family.

 

"I consulted and everybody is of this opinion (that I should leave)," he said, adding that he would return to the country to continue his work on the case if he was given protection by security forces.

 

The TLP called off the protests late on Friday after striking a deal with the government that would see authorities seek to put Bibi on an 'exit control list' barring her from leaving the country.

 

Bibi's whereabouts are unknown, but Islamists have warned the authorities against taking her out of the country.

 

"There will be a war if they send Asia out of country," TLP leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi said after the deal was reached.

 

Earlier in the week one of Rizvi's deputies called for Pakistan's Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and two other judges who ruled in the case to be murdered.

 

"Whoever, who has got any access to them, kill them before the evening," TLP co-founder Muhammad Afzal Qadri told supporters.

 

The TLP was founded out of a movement supporting a bodyguard who assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer after he spoke in Bibi's defence in 2011. Federal minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was also killed after calling for her release.

 

Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. She always denied having committed blasphemy.

 

The case has outraged Christians worldwide and been a source of division within Pakistan, where Islamist parties such as the TLP have framed Bibi's release as Pakistan's government caving into Western demands.

 

Bibi's acquittal is being reviewed, though it is extremely rare for a review to overturn a Supreme Court ruling.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-04

[sweatalot]

what a shithole of country

 

- if there's some good in this country they should definitely solve the muslim problem

Edited November 4, 2018 by sweatalot

[overherebc]

If ever a country deserved a wall built around it.

 

[nausea]

It's embarrasing. I suppose deep poverty means you hang on to whatever you have, and if that be religion so be it.

[mauGR1]

8 minutes ago, overherebc said:

If ever a country deserved a wall built around it.

 

But, but , they have jets and nuclear technology ????

[overherebc]

2 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

But, but , they have jets and nuclear technology ????

That's the real scary part.

[Krataiboy]

So much for Islam being a "religion of peace".

 

Let's just hope common sense stops the UN from bowing to pressure to introduce a new worldwide blasphemy law which could lead to similar scary scenarios in Western nations with Muslim populations.

[Gandtee]

Is it no wonder that Pakistanis are viewed as illiterate, backward religious zealots. I feel sorry for the ones who have dragged themselves out of the mire but still have to carry the stigma of association. There are many learned Pakistanis who contribute great things to the world. Religion has a lot to answer for.

[Tongjaw]

Yet the western world still continue to send them billions of dollar In foreign aid. 

[mauGR1]

4 minutes ago, Tongjaw said:

Yet the western world still continue to send them billions of dollar In foreign aid. 

I would agree with you , if it only was so simple, but i would bet that 'foreign aid' comes at a price.

[Basil B]

If Muslims expect to be able to live and practice there religion in countries predominately Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindi, etc, they must be tolerant of those who do not believe in their faith.

[AhFarangJa]

5 hours ago, overherebc said:

If ever a country deserved a wall built around it.

 

Then fill it with water.

[AhFarangJa]

9 minutes ago, Basil B said:

If Muslims expect to be able to live and practice there religion in countries predominately Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindi, etc, they must be tolerant of those who do not believe in their faith.

Therein lies the problem, they never do, and want to dominate wherever they go. Unfortunately Governments are too politically correct to either see this, or deal with it. 

[Pedrogaz]

6 hours ago, sweatalot said:

what a shithole of country

 

- if there's some good in this country they should definitely solve the muslim problem

I don't think it is as good as you say!

[Pedrogaz]

1 hour ago, Tongjaw said:

Yet the western world still continue to send them billions of dollar In foreign aid. 

You know most of the so called aid are soft loans to buy western made weapons don't you? It isn't going to feed the poor, educate the children and that sort of stuff. Saudi pays for the madrassas aka terrorist training high schools (for boys of course) what does a woman need educating for?

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

So much for Islam being a "religion of peace".

 

Let's just hope common sense stops the UN from bowing to pressure to introduce a new worldwide blasphemy law which could lead to similar scary scenarios in Western nations with Muslim populations.

 It is as much a religion of peace as Christianity is a religion of peace in "peace" loving christian countries such as the US ,the UK , France  etc.

As far as the UN comment is concerned, I was not aware that there was pressure for the UN to enact "world wide" blasphemy laws , or for that matter any laws whatsoever. 

A link pointing  to such a game changing event would be appreciated. 

[nausea]

These are the refugees we need and should be welcoming, the rest should go to a country that welcomes their religious bigotry. Oh, I can put my religious bigotry to one side if money and a comfortable life style is involved. It's a joke.

[Opl]

7 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

But, but , they have jets and nuclear technology ????

and gave shelter to Bin Laden 

Edited November 4, 2018 by Opl

[mauGR1]

11 minutes ago, Opl said:

7 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

But, but , they have jets and nuclear technology ????

and gave shelter to Ben Laden  

Not sure i want to go there, i just find odd that such primitive countries can get such modern, lethal technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[poanoi]

2 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

So much for Islam being a "religion of peace".

 

Let's just hope common sense stops the UN from bowing to pressure to introduce a new worldwide blasphemy law which could lead to similar scary scenarios in Western nations with Muslim populations.

let me guess: fox news told you this drivel and you bought it right ?

[Morch]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

 It is as much a religion of peace as Christianity is a religion of peace in "peace" loving christian countries such as the US ,the UK , France  etc.

As far as the UN comment is concerned, I was not aware that there was pressure for the UN to enact "world wide" blasphemy laws , or for that matter any laws whatsoever. 

A link pointing  to such a game changing event would be appreciated. 

 

It may have been a reference to issues summarized here:

 

Defamation of religion and the United Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation_of_religion_and_the_United_Nations

[Krataiboy]

58 minutes ago, sirineou said:

 It is as much a religion of peace as Christianity is a religion of peace in "peace" loving christian countries such as the US ,the UK , France  etc.

As far as the UN comment is concerned, I was not aware that there was pressure for the UN to enact "world wide" blasphemy laws , or for that matter any laws whatsoever. 

A link pointing  to such a game changing event would be appreciated. 

Haven't noticed many Christians bombing, beheading and deliberately driving vehicles into pedestrians on the streets of London, or anywhere else you have mentioned. The same goes for Buddhists, Hindus, etc. This seems to be an almost exclusively Islamist pastime.

Nothing game changing, either, about the pressure constantly being exerted on the UN to approve human rights (sic) provisions against blaspheming the Prophet and his medieval ideology. Imran Kahn is the latest advocate to swing the bat for the Islamic side. And there was us mug Westerners thinking what a civilised chap he was in his well-pressed whites. . . 

August 30th, 2018

Imran Khan, the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, has made curtailing freedom of speech a priority policy for his administration by vowing to revive a campaign to impose global blasphemy laws at the UN. - Humanism UK.

[Krataiboy]

12 minutes ago, poanoi said:

let me guess: fox news told you this drivel and you bought it right ?

Sigh. You guessed wrong. See my reply to Sirineou.

 

Apology accepted.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, nausea said:

These are the refugees we need and should be welcoming, the rest should go to a country that welcomes their religious bigotry. Oh, I can put my religious bigotry to one side if money and a comfortable life style is involved. It's a joke.

And guess what happens when Pakistani Christians come to Thailand and seek UN protection from persecution. They get harassed and persecuted here as well!

 

Google it.

[Krataiboy]

Just now, Moonlover said:

And guess what happens when Pakistani Christians come to Thailand and seek UN protection from persecution. They get harassed and persecuted here as well!

 

Google it.

Lucky Thailand let them in. My own homeland is less generous.

 

The UN recommended 1,358 Syrian refugees for resettlement in Britain during the first quarter of 2018, of whom only four were Christians. Britain agreed to resettle 1,112 of these refugees, all of whom were Muslims, and refused to accept the Christians. 

 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12796/britain-christian-refugees

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

And guess what happens when Pakistani Christians come to Thailand and seek UN protection from persecution. They get harassed and persecuted here as well!

 

Google it.

 

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Lucky Thailand let them in. My own homeland is less generous.

 

The UN recommended 1,358 Syrian refugees for resettlement in Britain during the first quarter of 2018, of whom only four were Christians. Britain agreed to resettle 1,112 of these refugees, all of whom were Muslims, and refused to accept the Christians. 

 

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12796/britain-christian-refugees

Well it isn't really a case of 'Thailand letting them in'. They arrive legally as tourists and then present themselves to UNHCR as refugees escaping persecution. But then they get stuck because of the intransigence of countries such a the UK.

 

Thailand as we saw from the Rohingya situation has little tolerance for refugees.

[Jack100]

3 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

You know most of the so called aid are soft loans to buy western made weapons don't you? It isn't going to feed the poor, educate the children and that sort of stuff. Saudi pays for the madrassas aka terrorist training high schools (for boys of course) what does a woman need educating for?

Pedrogaz , are you suggesting this aid business is some sort of racket ?

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Haven't noticed many Christians bombing, beheading and deliberately driving vehicles into pedestrians on the streets of London, or anywhere else you have mentioned. The same goes for Buddhists, Hindus, etc. This seems to be an almost exclusively Islamist pastime.

Nothing game changing, either, about the pressure constantly being exerted on the UN to approve human rights (sic) provisions against blaspheming the Prophet and his medieval ideology. Imran Kahn is the latest advocate to swing the bat for the Islamic side. And there was us mug Westerners thinking what a civilised chap he was in his well-pressed whites. . . 

August 30th, 2018

Imran Khan, the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, has made curtailing freedom of speech a priority policy for his administration by vowing to revive a campaign to impose global blasphemy laws at the UN. - Humanism UK.

No not in the streets of London, but plenty of bombing in the street of Baghdad, and other Muslim countries. Not very Christian of them . 

I am in no way defending the Pakistanis but we are no angels ourselves, simply a litle more sophisticated about it.

Non binding resolutions are hardly "world wide laws" by any stretch of the imagination. and respect for religion hardly blasphemy laws. As far as leaders making speeches to their base, nothing new there , look at Trump.

1 hour ago, Morch said:

 

It may have been a reference to issues summarized here:

 

Defamation of religion and the United Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation_of_religion_and_the_United_Nations

Thank you for that link,

non binding resolutions respecting religion are neither "world wide laws " and not even blasphemy resolutions. Many countries have laws in their books  protecting people's right to exercise their religion in dignity. The moron who killed all the Jews in Pittsburgh among other things was charged with 11 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs. last night a man as arrested writing anti semitic slurs in a synagogue  among which  were slurs defaming  the jewish religion,  among other things he was charged with hate speech, and not blastemy. 

   

[overherebc]

52 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

Well it isn't really a case of 'Thailand letting them in'. They arrive legally as tourists and then present themselves to UNHCR as refugees escaping persecution. But then they get stuck because of the intransigence of countries such a the UK.

 

Thailand as we saw from the Rohingya situation has little tolerance for refugees.

And long may it continue.

[Krataiboy]

 sirineou

1 Without the "bombings" in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere (which is what I gather you are getting at), the entire region (including Syria) would probably now be part of the Caliphate al Baghdadi and his merry men were in the process of creating. 

 

2 If the UN were the toothless bulldog you claim, why have the OIC been badgering it for decades to pass anti-blasphemy laws? More chillingly for free speech, only a few days ago the European Court of Human Rights dismissed of an Austrian woman]s appeal against conviction for blaspheming the Prophet - though all she had done was confirmed someone else's view that to deflower his virgin bride Aisha at nine was an act of pedophilia.

 

When feelings are adjudged by such an august body to matter more than facts we should all be extrremely concerned.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by Krataiboy