Judges in smaller courts in Pakistan are too afraid to let Christians go free in blasphemy cases because of the threat from extremists, a human rights activist says.
The country prosecutes anyone who is seen to be insulting Islam – with the death sentence often handed out.
In light of another Christian falling foul of the laws, Sajid Christopher Paul, President and Executive Director of Human Friends Organisation, has said more needs to be done to make judges feel secure.
“Judges in the low courts do not feel as secure as the judges in the higher courts. The judges in the low courts do not have as much security as the High Court and the Supreme Court,” Paul told religious freedom charity Aid to the Church in Need.
“I am not saying the judges themselves say they are insecure but the lawyers and everyone involved in cases such as this say that they don’t have the same security so they don’t make the bold decisions.
“The Supreme Court can make daring decisions like the acquittal of Asia Bibi because they have high-level security.”

As the Vatican sits poised to renew its historic agreement with China on the appointment of bishops later this month, one of the Catholic Church’s leading experts on Chinese affairs has argued that while the desire for dialogue is understandable, there is still nothing to show for the deal two years later.
“I understand the positivity, the temptation to have this relationship with China, but I have to say that there is very little fruit,” said Father Bernardo Cervellera, voicing his hope that “the Vatican, in renewing the agreement, instead of undergoing still more of the demands of China, puts more posts” in the way of their demands.
Head of Asia News and a former missionary in China, Cervellera spoke during a Sept. 4 online discussion hosted by the Acton Institute, a free-market Catholic organization, offering his evaluation of the state of the Asian continent amid the coronavirus pandemic and the new national security law in Hong Kong.
Speaking of the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops the Vatican made with China in 2018, which is up for renewal this month, Cervellera noted that many officials on the Vatican’s side have praised the deal as something both positive and fruitful, while “China has never said anything.”
He referred to one article printed in the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper with ties to the Communist Party, which quoted Vatican officials praising the agreement, but which contained no references to officials or opinions from members of the Chinese government.
Everything, in this sense, he said, would mean that “the Vatican must give the ‘okay’ for everything that China does, and certainly they must interrupt their dialogue with Taiwan.”

The leader of the Diocese of Hong Kong has instructed priests to avoid politics in homilies and admonishing them for “offensive” and “provocative” preaching. The warning comes amid a crackdown on free expression in Hong Kong, after the implementation of the new National Security Law in July.
A letter, obtained by CNA, was sent from Cardinal John Tong Hon, the former Bishop of Hong Kong and current administrator of the diocese. “The homily is not meant to convey the preacher’s personal views (such as his own view on a social or political issue) but God’s message,” the cardinal wrote.
While the letter does not explicitly reference the ongoing political situation, the cardinal warned that priests and deacons “should be well aware that our faithful are all the time listening to what we say and watching what we do.”
“Therefore, we have to be prudent and attentive to what we say in our homilies, sermons and speeches.”
Cardinal Tong has previously spoken in support of the National Security Law, which came into force on July 1. The cardinal insisted the law would have “no effect” on the local Church’s religious freedom. Since the law came into force, Catholic journalists, political activists, and businessmen have been arrested on charges of sedition.

Religious and ethnic parties must be banned: they do nothing but divide the country, says Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, in his homily for the National Day of the Sick, delivered in the basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatte.
Referring to the Easter attacks last year, and to the slow progress in investigations to find the culprits, Cardinal Ranjith recalled that religion must not divide or kill people: “If one religion destroys another, what is its meaning? Show me where such a God is!”
According to the Archbishop, religious extremism has spread dangerously in the country. He wonders if religious leaders are responsible for the attacks. The suicide bombers targeted three churches – two Catholic and one Protestant – and three hotels. The explosions caused about 280 deaths, including 45 foreigners, and nearly 600 victims.
After more than a year, justice has still not been done. “The investigation is underway – under-lined Cardinal Ranjith – but the authorities have not found out who planted the bombs, who the organizers are and who financed the raids.”
He continued that it is of serious concern that those politicians and officials who failed in their responsibilities have yet to be identified: “We ask and hope that the government will keep its promises to the Church, punishing those responsible.”

On 30 August a Pakistani Christian was arrested on charges of blasphemy in Nowshera (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). It is the 42nd case of its kind recorded in August in the country, a real record according to the Naya Daur (New Era) website.
David Masih’s arrest occurred three days after a video – which went viral – was posted on social media showing pages of the Koran being thrown down a drain. Reported to the police by some Muslim inhabitants of his neighbourhood, he allegedly confessed to having torn the pages “to practice witchcraft.”
The Pakistani Penal Code states that “anyone who intentionally defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or an extract from it, or uses it in a derogatory manner or for any illegal purpose, will be punished with life imprisonment.” In the case of defamation of the Prophet Muhammad (section 295-C), the death sentence is foreseen.
Since 1987, when Pakistan added sections 295-B and 295-C to the blasphemy law, the number of arrests for this crime has increased. According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistani Bishops’ Conference, between 1987 and 2018, 776 Muslims, 505 Ahmadis, 229 Christians and 30 Hindus were accused of blasphemy.

Human rights activists were shocked after Asia Bibi dissociated herself from her autobiography, due out later in September. Bibi, the Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy in 2018 after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan, sparked controversy with an Aug. 31 interview with Voice of America Urdu, reported ucanews.com. “I wasn’t involved in its drafting. I don’t know when she wrote it, whose story is it and who guided her for the book. I absolutely do not agree with this book because it’s not my autobiography,” she said, referring to French writer Anne-Isabelle Tollet, the only reporter to have met her during her stay in Canada. In February, Bibi confirmed that she was seeking asylum in France to live closer to Tollet, who played a key role in her fight for freedom and helped write her autobiography, “Enfin Libre!” (“Finally Free”).