LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) adjourned without hearing a long-awaited appeal from a Christian couple facing the death penalty for the last seven years after being convicted of blasphemy.
Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, imprisoned since 2013, were sentenced to death under blasphemy laws for sending “blasphemous texts” to a cleric.
The texts were sent via a sim card that was registered in Kausar’s name. However, the couple deny the allegations and believes that the sim was obtained by someone using a copy of her National Identity Card (NIC).
Barrister Saiful Malook said the couple’s appeal wasn’t heard before the court’s session ended. The court set no new date to hear the case, which has drawn international attention, but Malook said he would apply for a new hearing date.
It has been six years since their appeal was launched, and the couple’s family and lawyers expressed frustration that the hearing had again been delayed indefinitely. “I have an impression as if the judges don’t want to hear this case due to unexplained reasons,” Malook said.
The development comes hours after Amnesty International asked Pakistan to immediately release the Christian couple.
In a statement, Samira Hamidi, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia, also asked authorities to “urgently repeal its blasphemy laws that have been flagrantly abused and caused an immeasurable amount of harm.”
Under the blasphemy laws, anyone accused of insulting Islam or other religious figures can be sentenced to death if found guilty. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, just the accusation of blasphemy can cause riots in Pakistan.
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own guard in 2011 after he defended a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy.
She was acquitted after spending eight years on death row and left Pakistan for Canada to join her family after allegedly receiving threats.
