Pakistan's Supreme Court acquits a Christian woman convicted for blasphemy Wednesday Oct 31,2018

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday Oct 31,2018 has acquitted a Christian woman convicted for blasphemy, prompting protests by far-right groups that have been demanding her execution for years.

 

Aasia Bibi (53)was cleared of all blasphemy charges and authorities were ordered to release her after nine years on death row, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar announced in the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday. 

"This appeal is allowed. The judgements of the High Court, as well as the Trial Court, are reversed. Consequently, the conviction as also the sentence of death awarded to the appellant is set aside and she is acquitted of the charge," Nisar told a packed courtroom.

Aasia Bibi a native of the central Pakistan village of Ithan Wali, was accused by two Muslim women of having insulted Islam's Prophet Muhammad and the Quran during an argument sparked by their refusal to drink water from the same vessel as her in 2009.

She was convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court in November 2010, with the Lahore High Court upholding her conviction four years later