A Pakistani court has indefinitely postponed an appeal hearing for a Christian couple who have been on death row since 2014, after being convicted of blasphemy.
Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, imprisoned since 2013, were sentenced to death under Pakistan’s notoriously draconian blasphemy laws for allegedly sending “blasphemous texts” that insulted the prophet Muhammad to a clergyman.
The texts were sent using a SIM card registered in the name of Kausar. However, the couple denies the allegations and believes that the yes was obtained by someone using a copy of their identity card.
Six years have passed since his appeal was launched, and the couple’s family and lawyers have expressed frustration that the hearing has been postponed indefinitely. Saiful Malook, the couple’s lawyer, accused the judge in Islamabad of avoiding hearing the case out of fear, as blasphemy cases are highly controversial and often dangerous for those involved.
In July last year, a man on trial for blasphemy was shot dead in a court in Peshawar, adding to the fear among judges.
“We don’t even have a date for the next hearing. The judge continues to delay the process for fear, but now it is enough. It must be heard. I fear for their lives, ”said Malook.
“Judges in Pakistan will rarely hear cases of blasphemy until there is political or international pressure. There is no substantive evidence against my clients, and they should have been released a long time ago. “
According to national and international human rights groups, blasphemy charges in Pakistan have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal accounts.
Kausar and Emmanuel are being held in two separate prisons in different districts in the province of Punjab. Both are in isolated cells, separated from other prisoners, as it is feared that if they mix with other prisoners, they may be killed.
Close members of the couple’s family also fear for their lives. Kausar’s brother Joseph, who does not want to divulge his surname and place of residence, left for Europe shortly after his arrest, when he was threatened.
“My brother-in-law is almost physically dead as he is paralyzed and unable to move his lower body, and my sister is mentally dead because she has lived alone for more than six years and also feels that people can kill her, even in prison. She is very upset and her hair is falling out, ”said Joseph.
Joseph said the allegations were false and that the couple did not insult the prophet.
“The clergyman must have made false accusations,” said Joseph. “Unfortunately, the judges have postponed the hearing. It is a failure of the justice system. The judges leave, they do not want to hear, while we, the family members, are traumatized and do not feel safe. “
The case is not isolated. Asad Jamal, a lawyer who represented Abdul Samad, who was convicted of blasphemy in 2013, said he had waited more than seven years for an appeal to be heard in the courts. Jamal described the justice system around blasphemy cases as a “frustrating black hole”.
“Blasphemy cases are delayed because the judges do not want to hear them and the lawyers do not want to defend the accused,” he said.
Although Pakistan has not executed anyone accused under blasphemy laws, at least 17 of the blasphemy convicts in the country are on death row, with several others serving life sentences for similar crimes.
Asia Bibi, a Christian farm worker who was accused of blasphemy in a dispute with neighbors, went through a decade-long ordeal in Pakistan’s prisons. His case resulted in an uproar against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and drew international attention to his problematic legislation.
Malook said there were several similarities between the couple’s case and Bibi’s. “The same happened with Asia Bibi, whose case was postponed for a decade and was only heard because there was some pressure from Western governments.
“I believe that Bibi would be behind bars until now if there was no pressure. Imagine the level of fear and justice when judges do not want to hear such cases. That fear must end, ”he said.
Originally sentenced to death in 2010, Bibi’s death sentence verdict was overturned and she was granted asylum in Canada, where she still receives death threats. In 2011, the governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, and the minority minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, were killed after they brought attention to Bibi’s case and campaigned for reform of the laws against blasphemy.