Asia Bibi blasphemy case hearing adjourned indefinitely

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of Asia Bibi blasphemy case for an indefinite period after a judge rescued himself from the bench.

At the outset, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman rescued himself from the three-member bench hearing the blasphemy case. "I was a part of the bench that was hearing the case of Salmaan Taseer, and this case is related to that," he told the court.

The bench comprising Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman and Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik was formed to hear the appeal filed by Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been on death row since 2010.

Now the chief justice will reconstitute the panel for the case. The court did not immediately set a new date for the appeal.

Threats

Observers had warned of possible violence if Bibi´s conviction was overturned, with some calling the case a battle for Pakistan´s soul as the state walks a line between upholding human rights and appeasing hardliners.

Clerics at the influential Red Mosque in Islamabad warned late Wednesday they would launch a nationwide protest if Bibi is released.

"Any one who will defend or will protect the blasphemer will equally be considered as blasphemer," spokesman Hafiz Ihtesham Ahmed said.

He warned against foreign diplomats lobbying for Bibi´s release, saying clerics would mobilise the public if she was freed and "everyone will become Qadri".

Bibi´s lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook called the Red Mosque threat "big".

"I hope the government takes it very seriously and takes care of our security," he told media outside the court Thursday.

- Judges ´apprehensive´? -

Zohra Yusuf, chair of the independent Human Rights Commission in Pakistan, told AFP the appeal delay was "regrettable", noting that Bibi was already being held in solitary confinement due to security concerns.

The judges may be "apprehensive", she said, adding that after the Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold Qadri´s death sentence, justices had to sneak out the back door to the court.

"It´s a sensitive case. I think they (the judges) have realised that if Asia Bibi (is) acquitted, they may be putting their own lives on the line," Yusuf said.

Earlier today, hundreds of security forces were deployed in Islamabad to maintain law and order.

"Security is very tight in Islamabad all around today. Additional troops have been deployed on checkpoints and city junctions in general. There is also deployment of paramilitary force Rangers and FC (Frontier Corps) on some additional points," a police source told AFP.

Asia Bibi was convicted and sentenced to hang in 2010 after an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water. Her supporters maintain her innocence and insist it was a personal dispute.