Pakistani Ambassador To The U.S. To Be Investigated For Blasphemy

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3. Pakistan ambassador to US faces blasphemy probe

Pakistan ambassador to US faces blasphemy probe
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZLyeWfHtcZb1qPWeoeOvHG_P3tg?docId=CNG.b57546d9aa12ec969e5cf47ffb487012.7b1
(AFP) – 5 days ago

... A lawyer representing Rehman, Abid Hasan Minto, told AFP an appeal had been filed in the Supreme Court against the order to investigate the case ...

'I Need A Good Lawyer': Pakistan’s Ambassador To US May Face Blasphemy Charge
http://www.ibtimes.com/i-need-good-lawyer-pakistans-ambassador-us-may-face-blasphemy-charge-1101061
BY Palash R. Ghosh | February 22 2013 12:54 PM

... BBC Urdu reported that Gill claimed Rehman committed blasphemy during a television appearance in November 2010 in which she was discussing the need to reform and ease Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws ... Rehman has also rubbed conservatives the wrong way by proposing bills in parliament that were designed to increase the rights of women, to impose tougher punishment for those who commit honor killings and to guarantee the freedom of the press. Appointed ambassador to Washington in November 2011, Rehman is a close ally of President Asif Ali Zardari ... “<The blasphemy law> was designed as an instrument of persecution,” Ali Hasan Dayan, of Human Rights Watch in Pakistan, said. “It's discriminatory and abusive” ...

Blasphemy case against Sherry

... In 2010, Rehman had faced death threats from militant groups for seeking changes in the blasphemy law. She was forced by the PPP to drop a plan to move a bill in parliament to abolish the death penalty for blasphemy ... Rights groups have said the law is often misused to persecute minorities like Christians and to settle personal scores. Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and minority affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, were assassinated in 2011 shortly after they called for reforms in the law ... The charge is difficult to defend since blasphemy is not defined and courts often hesitate to hear evidence, fearful that reproducing it will also be blasphemy ...