Pakistan Execution Puts Spotlight on Blasphemy Laws

Muslim extremists rioted Monday morning in Pakistan over the execution of an Islamic assassin.

The government's hanging of convicted murderer Mumtaz Qadri once again placed the spotlight on the country's blasphemy laws.

In the Pakistani capital city of Islamabad, protesters shouted "shame on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!"

They burned tires and blocked streets -- all in response to the government-ordered hanging death of Qadri.

"Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was our national hero. They (the government) hanged him ... That's why we blocked the main highway," protester Fahad Abbasi said.

In January 2011, Qadri was hailed a hero by Muslim extremists for assassinating Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer. Taseer was an outspoken critic of Pakistan's 295 Blasphemy Law. He supported efforts to free Asia Bibi, the Christian mother jailed in 2009 on charges she committed blasphemy against Mohammed.

Bibi was convicted and sentenced to death. Although Pakistan's Supreme Court has over-turned her execution, she is still imprisoned, awaiting a new trial or aquittal on the charges against her.

Pakistan isn't the only country where blasphemy laws are often misused against Christians and others to settle disputes, or to gain property.

"We continue to see the negative impacts of blasphemy and apostasy laws in countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan. Such laws have been used in some countries as a pre-text to justify violence in the name of religion," U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom Rabbi David Saperstein explained in recent testimony before a House committee.

For now, the assassin of a reform-minded governor is dead, and Bibi approaches nearly seven years in prison.

And Christians and moderate Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere still wait for change to come to their countries.