Moderator Expresses Concern Over Blasphemy Law

Thursday January 30 2014

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has written to the British and Pakistani Governments to express the Church's ‘deep concern’ over Pakistan’s blasphemy law.

The letter, to Foreign Secretary William Hague, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, the High Commissioner of Pakistan and the Scottish Government's external affairs minister, Humza Yousaf, comes after a ruling from a Pakistan court that the death penalty should be the only punishment for anyone convicted of blasphemy.

Mrs Hood wrote: "The Church of Scotland fears that if the Federal Shariah Court order is implemented the misuse of blasphemy laws which, we already know and even some of the Pakistani politicians have admitted, are being used to settle personal scores, will increase and victims from minority faith communities will become even more vulnerable than at present."

Mohammed Asghar, a 69-year-old who spent 30 years in Scotland before moving back to Pakistan, is currently on death row after being found guilty of blasphemy, despite a history of mental illness which the court refused to take into account.

The Church of Scotland has repeatedly raised concerns about the blasphemy law and its use against religious minorities in Pakistan. The 2012 General Assembly called on the Pakistani government to repeal the law, and urged congregations and members to campaign against it.

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