Some details to round out the picture:
Pakistani authorities charged 1274 people with offences under the blasphemy laws since 1986 till 2010. Sixty percent of the people charged were non-Muslim. Most of those charged were murdered soon after the charge was laid.
In November 2010, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging on a charge of blasphemy; the case that has yet to be upheld by the Lahore High Court has sparked international reactions.
On Dec. 12, 2010, during a press conference major Islamic parties in Pakistan launched a campaign for upholding the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad against the proposed amendment in the blasphemy laws.
In July 2010, the Lahore High Court ordered the release of Zaibun Nisa, a woman who was jailed in 1996 on a charge of blasphemy when police were investigating a complaint that a Quran had been defiled. Nisa's lawyer reported, "There was no evidence linking her to the crime." [The Iconoclast] Read more
