ICC Note:
In March 2011, the then minister for minority affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated by Islamic radicals because of his open criticism of Pakistan’s controversial and abusive blasphemy laws. Bhatti specifically highlighted how the blasphemy laws were disproportionately abused to persecute Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. He also spoke boldly in the blasphemy case against a Christian woman, Asia Bibi. Now, the Bhatti’s killers may go free due to death threats and intimidation.
2/19/2014 Pakistan (Baptist Press) – Intimidation by Islamic militants has prompted the brother of Pakistan’s first Christian cabinet minister to leave the country.
Paul Bhatti’s efforts to bring the killers of his brother, Shahbaz Bhatti, to justice could be thwarted by the Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorist organizations.
Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minority affairs, was assassinated in March 2011, two months after Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer, a Muslim, was slain. Militants targeted both men for their criticism of the country’s blasphemy laws and their defense of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming Islam’s prophet. Bibi has been waiting for three years to have her appeal heard.
In addition to the death threats, extremist groups are demanding that the government release the four suspects in Bhatti’s murder as a precondition for peace talks.
Paul Bhatti stepped forward as the complainant in the case when the government’s prosecution slowed to a standstill.
“I’ve been constantly threatened to withdraw the case, and just recently I received a letter from the Pakistani Taliban and LeJ warning me to stop pursuing the case or else they will kill me,” Bhatti told persecution monitor Morning Star News by phone from Italy. “I informed the government and other concerned quarters about these threats, but I’m yet to hear something from their side.”
Riaz Gondal, the investigating officer in the case, admitted that the suspects and their militant advocates pose a serious threat to the murder victim’s brother.
“Indeed it is a serious matter — perhaps this is why [Paul Bhatti’s legal counsel] hadn’t been pursuing the case,” Gondal said, noting that Bhatti’s absence from hearings and reduced contact with investigators would impair prosecution. “We did our job and arrested the accused. It’s now up to the court to punish them. But if the complainant does not show up at the hearings, there’s little hope for the killers to be convicted.”
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