{"id":7395,"date":"2021-08-16T08:18:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T08:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adf.uk\/?p=7395"},"modified":"2024-02-16T14:33:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T13:33:22","slug":"escaped-from-death-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/escaped-from-death-row","title":{"rendered":"Escaped from death row into Europe: Son of imprisoned Pakistani couple speaks out on ordeal"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"7395\" class=\"elementor elementor-7395\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4d1c97d2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4d1c97d2\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-45f4e161\" data-id=\"45f4e161\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78023de2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"78023de2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul>\n \t<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Christian Pakistani family faced death threats over blasphemy allegations despite acquittal<\/strong><\/li>\n \t<li data-leveltext=\"-\" data-font=\"Calibri\" data-listid=\"2\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Parents survived death row and have now found refuge in Europe<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<strong>PUNJAB\u202f<\/strong>(16 August 2021) \u2013 Zehmat Akhtar and his parents received asylum in the EU last week after having gone through an \u201cunspeakable ordeal\u201d. In 2014, a session court had sentenced Zehmat\u2019s parents, Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel to death by hanging over allegations of blasphemy. The Lahore High Court overturned their death sentence this June. The family now face death threats by extremists despite being acquitted.\n\nZahmat Akhtar remembers when the police came to arrest his parents in 2013: \u201cI saw the police beating my father. He is paralyzed from the waist down, so he didn\u2019t feel pain in his legs, but they also hit him in his face and beat him with gun butts on his back. They forced him to say that he had committed blasphemy\u201d. Watch the full interview here.\n\n <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-container brlbs-cmpnt-content-blocker brlbs-cmpnt-with-individual-styles\" data-borlabs-cookie-content-blocker-id=\"youtube-content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-content=\"PGlmcmFtZSB0aXRsZT0iUGFraXN0YW5pIENocmlzdGlhbnMgY2xlYXJlZCBvZiBibGFzcGhlbXkgY2hhcmdlcyBlc2NhcGUgZGVhdGggc2VudGVuY2UgLSBTaGFndWZ0YSBhbmQgU2hhZnFhdCBjYXNlIiB3aWR0aD0iNTAwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjI4MSIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLW5vY29va2llLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9aZjdqd2VabnZJYz9mZWF0dXJlPW9lbWJlZCIgZnJhbWVib3JkZXI9IjAiIGFsbG93PSJhY2NlbGVyb21ldGVyOyBhdXRvcGxheTsgY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlOyBlbmNyeXB0ZWQtbWVkaWE7IGd5cm9zY29wZTsgcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlOyB3ZWItc2hhcmUiIHJlZmVycmVycG9saWN5PSJzdHJpY3Qtb3JpZ2luLXdoZW4tY3Jvc3Mtb3JpZ2luIiBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4+PC9pZnJhbWU+\"><div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-preset-c brlbs-cmpnt-cb-youtube\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-thumbnail\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/borlabs-cookie\/1\/yt_Zf7jweZnvIc_hqdefault.jpg')\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-main\"> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-play-button\"><\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-content\"> <p class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-description\">You are currently viewing a placeholder content from <strong>YouTube<\/strong>. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.<\/p> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-provider-toggle\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-show-provider-information role=\"button\">More Information<\/a> <\/div> <div class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-buttons\"> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-btn\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-unblock role=\"button\">Unblock content<\/a> <a class=\"brlbs-cmpnt-cb-btn\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-accept-service role=\"button\" style=\"display: inherit\">Accept required service and unblock content<\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n\n<strong>Death sentence over blasphemy allegations<\/strong>\n\nThe couple had been living in poverty with their four children in a mission compound of the Gojra Church in Punjab, Pakistan. On 18 June 2013, allegedly blasphemous text messages, were sent to a cleric and a lawyer from a phone allegedly registered in Shagufta Kausar\u2019s name. Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel were arrested and charged with blasphemy on 21 July 2013. The couple is illiterate and would not have been able to write any text messages at all. Kauser claimed that her phone had been missing for a month at the time of the incident. It is uncertain who sent the messages and for what reason.\n\nBlasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and though no one has been formally executed for it, dozens have been killed by mobs after being accused of the crime. Emmanuel had been tortured into making a false confession. They beat him and threatened to strip Kausar naked and let her walk across town. A session court sentenced Kausar and Emmanuel to death. They launched an appeal in the Lahore High Court, which has now acquitted them of all charges.\n\n<strong>Free at last<\/strong>\n\n\u201cWe are delighted that Shagufta and Shafqat have, at long last, been released and have reached safety. Sadly, their case is not an isolated incident but testifies to the plight that many Christians and other religious minorities experience in Pakistan today. While the right to religious freedom is protected by the Pakistani constitution, many face severe persecution and denial of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly,\u201d said Tehmina Arora, Director of Advocacy, Asia with ADF International, a human rights organisation supporting the couple.\n\n\u201cWe are so relieved to finally be free. The last eight years have been an unspeakable ordeal, but we are so happy to be reunited with our children. We are very grateful that so many people, especially the teams from ADF International and the Jubilee Campaign, helped and protected us by bringing us to safety. Although we will miss our country, we are happy to finally be somewhere safe. Hopefully, the blasphemy laws in Pakistan will soon be abolished, so others won\u2019t suffer the same fate as Shagufta and I,\u201d said Shafqat Emmanuel on behalf of the family.\n\n<strong>Threat to life despite acquittal<\/strong>\n\nHighlighting the problems surrounding accusations of blasphemy, even in cases that eventually result in acquittal, the couple\u2019s lawyer, Saif Ul Malook, said:\n\n\u201cShagufta and Shafqat are incredibly relieved to have finally been acquitted of these unfounded blasphemy charges. The many delays to the hearing of their appeal caused them a lot of suffering. These cases are very difficult to litigate, due to the concern for security. There is a very real threat to the life of the clients and the lawyers.\u201d\n\n<strong>In the footsteps of Asia Bibi<\/strong>\n\nKausar was held in the same prison as Asia Bibi. In a case that received global headlines, Bibi was accused of blasphemy and held on death row for eight years until she was acquitted in 2018. Her case serves as a well-known example of the current threat to religious minorities in the region. After her acquittal, there were violent demonstrations across Pakistan threatening her life and she was forced to flee the country.\n\n\u201cBlasphemy laws directly violate international law. How many more people must suffer the same fate as Asia Bibi and Shagufta and Shafqat until they are repealed? All people have the right to freely choose and live out their faith. We therefore urge all governments to uphold this right by ceasing enforcement and initiating repeal of their blasphemy laws,\u201d said Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF International.\n\n* Due to security concerns their country of asylum remains undisclosed.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zehmat Akhtar and his parents received asylum in the EU last week after having gone through an \u201cunspeakable ordeal\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":23552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[717],"tags":[898],"class_list":["post-7395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-uk-en-gb"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - 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