ICC Note:

In 2011, a governor in Pakistan was killed by his bodyguard after standing up for Asia Bibi and religious freedom. Since his death, a Pakistani activist has scheduled memorials and prayer vigils in the governor’s honor in hopes of helping people remember the ideas of freedom that he espoused. Pakistani officials, however, are not keen on such remembrance and detained the activist, Saeeda Diep, for 7 hours. Officials also warned Diep that clerics would kill her if she organized a vigil.

01/05/2018 Pakistan (Asia News) – Saeeda Diep, a famous Pakistani activist, was detained yesterday by the Lahore police in her office for seven hours.

The agents prevented her from organising a prayer vigil to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Salman Taseer, a Punjab governor killed by his bodyguard in 2011 for defending Asia Bibi and challenging the “black law” on blasphemy.

Diep, the executive director of the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies, is a staunch supporter of human rights. Only a few days ago she defended the five intellectuals and bloggers who were exonerated of the accusation of “blasphemy on social media”.

“About 20 policemen arrived in my office at 3:30 pm and stayed till 10 at night,” she told AsiaNews. “They also cordoned off my house. They said clerics will kill me if I organise the event. What a pathetic state of affairs. Not a single member of civil society or any of my friends tried to visit me.”

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