UPDATE: Since this article was originally posted, Jubilee Campaign has told Decision that Kiran spent the first three months of her imprisonment in a cell with almost no light and in which prisoners are unable to lie down properly. Her sentence specifies death by hanging, and the court has imposed “rigorous imprisonment,” meaning that she will be confined under particularly harsh conditions. Jubilee Campaign remains determined to fight for Kiran, but they report that two of Kiran’s attorneys have withdrawn from the case due to death threats. They have been able to retain an attorney from a different city, but this has significantly increased the cost of Kiran’s defense.
A court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has sentenced Shagufta Kiran, a Christian mother of four, to death for participating in a religious discussion in a WhatsApp group in 2020. A complainant named Sheraz Ahmed Farooqi claimed that Kiran’s remarks were disrespectful to Muhammad.
Kiran was arrested in July 2021 and has been held in an isolation cell since that year, according to Jubilee Campaign, which has provided legal aid to Kiran and is preparing to appeal the sentence at the high court.
In an interview with EU Today, Kiran’s daughter Nidaal said: “We have been crying since yesterday, and this news has brought even more pain and trauma to our entire family. For the past four years, we have suffered because of my mother’s case.”
In a plea addressed directly to the European Union, Nidaal added: “We have been suffering humiliation and distress during this time, but today our hope has been shattered. Please help us, EU. We urgently need your support to save my mother’s life.”
Morningstar News reports that Kiran is a former nurse who “proclaimed the Gospel and defended her Christian faith” in several interfaith WhatsApp groups.
Attorney Rana Abdul Hameed argued that the charges against Kiran were baseless and motivated by personal grievances. He added that the verdict did not come as a surprise, as 99% of those charged under the blasphemy law are convicted by trial courts under pressure from Islamists.
Top photo: Pakistanis gather in London in 2012 to protest against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
Photo: Nelson Pereira / Alamy Stock Photo