ICC Note:

As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, will spend another Christmas in prison. In 2009, Bibi got into an argument with Muslim coworkers who were upset that she, a Christian, used the same water bowl. Following the argument, the angered coworkers accused Bibi of blasphemy for which she was sentenced to death in 2010. This Christmas, remember to pray for Bibi and other Christians imprisoned around the world. 

12/23/2016 Pakistan (BBC) – As churches around the country prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, with peace and goodwill toward men, spare a thought for those who must live out their faith in a foreign land.

This will be the seventh consecutive Christmas mother-of-five Asia Bibi will spend in solitary confinement within the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – a country that has what the United Nations describes as “one of the worst situations in the world for religious freedom”.

A member of the Christian minority, just 1.6% of the population, 45-year-old Asia Bibi was jailed after being found guilty of breaching Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.

Her case has provoked global protests, with supporters accusing the judiciary of fabricating the charge to persecute a Christian. There have been no fewer than three attempts at appealing against the verdict.

There’s also been a direct intervention by Pope Francis, who received a delegation of family and friends at the Vatican. But still she languishes in a small cell as the world awaits a final decision from the Supreme Court in Lahore.

“The case of Asia Bibi is precisely the reason why I continue to fight for religious minorities around the world,” says crossbench peer Baroness Cox, who recently returned from visiting oppressed Christians in Nigeria.

“Only those of us in open and free societies can be a voice to the voiceless and Christmas is the perfect season for us to renew our appeal for humanity and tolerance.”

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