By Asad Jamal

When a high court upholds the conviction and death sentence of a woman from a poor as well as politically and socially marginalised religious minority in a highly publicised case lodged under a deeply controversial blasphemy law, it is not an ordinary event.

Since the introduction of Section 295-C in the Pakistan Penal Code in 1986, the confirmation of the death sentence for Aasia Noreen, or Aasia Bibi as she is generally referred to, is the third such decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) — in fact, by any high court in the country. The event, however, seems to have come and gone without any critical reaction from the intelligentsia, generally, and the lawyers, in particular. A court judgment such as this can be an important indicator of how blasphemy cases are being decided. It may also help enhance our understanding of the failure of the criminal justice system to protect the vulnerable. On both counts, the LHC decision warrants a critical analysis.

The verdict issued on November 5, 2014, is essentially based on the argument that the eye witnesses/complainants, Mafia and Asma, were not duly cross-examined during the proceedings of the trial court. The learned LHC judges, hearing the case, noted that the defense lawyers had not contested the allegation of blasphemous utterances by the accused. If an allegation is not contested by the defense lawyers, then, according to the law of the land, it must be considered to be true and admitted by the accused, the judges pointed out. Since direct evidence – that is, testimonies of the complainants – were coherent and confidence inspiring, therefore, conviction and sentence must be upheld, they concluded.

How can one, however, exclude altogether the possibility of ill will generated in the minds of the complainants against Aasia Bibi due to a quarrel over drinking water? Why should one presume that Aasia Bibi uttered the offensive words without having been provoked?

Read more