In 2009 Aasia Bibi, a 45-year-old Christian mother and farm worker from Punjab, was falsely accused of insulting the so called Islamic prophet, Muhammad,a criminal offence in Pakistan with a mandatory death penalty. She was prosecuted and convicted in November 2010. Aasia appealed against her sentence, but this appeal was eventually turned down on 16th October 2014. Two prominent Pakistani politicians who spoke up for Mrs Bibi have been murdered by the Pakistani Islamic mob.
Human rights lawyers question the impartiality and independence of the criminal proceedings that resulted in Aasia's conviction and the quality of the evidence upon which her guilt was established. Apparently the accusation arose after heated discussions with other women in the village who attacked her Christian beliefs.
Pakistan, will get a total £450 million from DfID in 2014/15, making it the biggest recipient of British aid in the world. It also receives copious amounts of cash from the USA and the EU yet very little of this money is likely to get to the people it was intended to help. Pakistan is a corrupt oligarchy where only a tiny minority of Pakistanis bothers to pay tax. In a country with 180 million people, fewer than 860,000 contribute anything from their incomes.
We therefore ask the President of the USA, the Head of the EU Commission and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to withhold any further payments to Pakistan at least until Aasia Bibi is released from prison and allowed to seek asylum with her family in One of the three countries willing to take them.
