In June 2009, Noreen was charged with defaming Islam, after fellow field workers tried to pressure her into renouncing Christianity. Of the 974 people who have been charged with defiling the Quran or insulting Muhammad since 1986, Noreen is the first to be sentenced to death. Noreen, a mother of five is currently being held in a Pakistan jail.

The Full Story |

Asia Noreen has been in jail since June of last year after she argued with fellow field workers who were trying to pressure her into renouncing Christianity.  The argument began after the wife of a local elder sent Noreen to fetch water in Nankana Sahib District, about 75km from Lahore. The Muslim women told Noreen that it was sacrilegious to drink water collected by a non-Muslim. 

Noreen’s husband said, “My wife only said, ‘Are we not all humans?’ when the Muslim women rebuked her for her faith and accused her of defaming Muhammad. “Several Muslim men working in the nearby fields reached the spot and forced their way into our house, where they tortured Noreen and the children.

Police then arrived and took Noreen into custody, presumably for her own protection, “They saved Noreen’s life, but then later a case was registered against her under blaspheming the Quran and Muhammad, Noreen has been convicted on false charges. We have never, ever insulted the prophet Muhammad or the Quran.” her husband said.
 

The Law |

Noreen was convicted under Section 295-C of the defamation statutes for alleged derogatory comments about Muhammad, which is punishable by death, though life imprisonment is also possible. Section 295-B makes wilful desecration of the Quran or a use of its extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment. Section 295-A of the defamation law prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens.” It is punishable by life imprisonment, which in Pakistan is 25 years.

In the past 25yrs, at least 974 people have been charged with defiling the Quran or insulting Muhammad. Those charged included 479 Muslims, 340 Ahmadis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus and 10 from other religions. 

Rights groups have long criticized Pakistan’s blasphemy laws as too easily used to settle grudges or oppress religious minorities. To date no one has been executed for blasphemy in Pakistan, as most are freed on appeal after suffering for years under appalling prison conditions. However, vigilantes have killed at least 10 people accused of blasphemy and one muslim cleric publically offered a bounty for anyone who killed Noreen which makes it very difficult for her to ever return home.
 
The verdict was shocking in that no one was expecting a death sentence for a woman, “Noreen was hoping that the judge would free her and she would come home to be with us, but this conviction has dashed our hopes for now,” her husband said. Since the sentencing, authorities have not allowed him or other members of their family to visit his wife. 
 
“We don’t know yet how she is, but we trust the Lord,” he said. “Noreen is suffering for Jesus, and He will not forsake her.” 

Noreen is the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s widely condemned law against defaming Islam, she was also fined 100,000 rupees (US$1,150).
 

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