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- At present, legal proceedings against 130 Christians is conducted in Pakistan, - said the head of the center priest James Channan.
According to him, there is even more cases against the Muslims - about 950. "But there is a fundamental difference in the application of this law to Muslims and Christians: if the accused is a Muslim, then he is punished alone, and if the prosecution presented to a Christian, the entire Christian community is exposed to persecution"- said the priest. He recalled that as a result of these trials, "the entire Christian villages were burned to the ground."
Channan drew attention to the fact that the blasphemy law in Pakistan "often becomes a tool for vendetta and solving property disputes."
One of the most famous Christian who came under this law - Asia Bibi. In 2009, after a dispute with a Muslim, she has been accused in violation of the law on blasphemy by a local religious leader, leaned her to accept Islam before. In 2010, Bibi, who is a mother of four children, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was appealed and has not yet been carried out.
31 October 2014, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill addressed to the President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain to pardon Asia Bibi. As noted in the patriarchal telegram to Hussain, the woman’s penalty "will not only become an irreplaceable loss for her family, relatives and friends, but also cause great damage to the Muslim-Christian dialogue, it could trigger increased tensions between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan and around the world. "
July 22, 2015, Supreme Court of Pakistan has decided to re-listen to the conviction, what human rights activists regarded as a significant step towards the restoration of justice. Around the world, more than 300 thousand signatures on a petition to pardon Asia Bibi have been collected during her imprisonment.
According to him, there is even more cases against the Muslims - about 950. "But there is a fundamental difference in the application of this law to Muslims and Christians: if the accused is a Muslim, then he is punished alone, and if the prosecution presented to a Christian, the entire Christian community is exposed to persecution"- said the priest. He recalled that as a result of these trials, "the entire Christian villages were burned to the ground."
Channan drew attention to the fact that the blasphemy law in Pakistan "often becomes a tool for vendetta and solving property disputes."
One of the most famous Christian who came under this law - Asia Bibi. In 2009, after a dispute with a Muslim, she has been accused in violation of the law on blasphemy by a local religious leader, leaned her to accept Islam before. In 2010, Bibi, who is a mother of four children, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was appealed and has not yet been carried out.
31 October 2014, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill addressed to the President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain to pardon Asia Bibi. As noted in the patriarchal telegram to Hussain, the woman’s penalty "will not only become an irreplaceable loss for her family, relatives and friends, but also cause great damage to the Muslim-Christian dialogue, it could trigger increased tensions between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan and around the world. "
July 22, 2015, Supreme Court of Pakistan has decided to re-listen to the conviction, what human rights activists regarded as a significant step towards the restoration of justice. Around the world, more than 300 thousand signatures on a petition to pardon Asia Bibi have been collected during her imprisonment.