The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2016-03-08.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case of Asia Bibi, currently sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains concerned about the case of Ms Bibi and continues to follow her appeal process closely. The Supreme Court suspended the death sentence to allow for appeal in July 2015, but she does not yet have a hearing date.
The Government regularly makes known to the Pakistani government at a senior level our concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws against both Muslims and religious minorities in Pakistan. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), personally raised the abuse of these laws with the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK in October 2015. Both the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), have made clear to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif our concerns about the blasphemy laws.
