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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 08/20/2001 : 21:28:25
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This is happening now.
DR. SHAIKH SENTENCED TO DEATH
Dr. Younis Shaikh, a teacher at a medical college in Islamabad and founder
and president of Enlightenment, the Pakistani-based International Humanist
and Ethical Union member organization, was sentenced to death for blasphemy
by a court in Pakistan on August 18. He has one week to appeal this
sentence. (See the New York Times International section Aug. 20, 2001).
Dr. Shaikh was arrested on October 4, 2000, by Islamabad police for
allegedly saying that the Prophet Mohammed did not become Muslim until the
age of 40 (which was when he received his first revelation) and that his
parents were non-Muslims (as they died before Islam was proposed by the
Prophet). According to the report in the NYT, "The Movement for the Finality
of the Prophet, well known for pursuing blasphemers, filed a criminal
complaint and sent a mob to the college and the local police station,
threatening to set them on fire."
Hundreds of people have been convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan, among them
moderate Muslims, Christians and members of other religious minorities. The
law they are prosecuted under is extremely ill defined. Frequently, people
don't know beforehand that they are committing an offence. While we do not
know if Dr. Shaikh will face execution in the short time allowed for his
appeal or whether he will languish in jail, we do know that we must mobilize
immediately to bring this travesty to the attention of the world community.
YOUR HELP is urgently needed to bring political pressure to bear on Pakistan
to stop the death sentence from being carried out. Protests are being
planned in London and Oslo
PLEASE ACT NOW:
1. If you live in the U.S., please contact the U.S. State Department by
calling Sec. Colin Powell at (202) 647-4000 or email him at
secretary@state.gov.
2. Contact the President of the United States by calling (202) 456-1414 or
email him at president@whitehouse.gov.
3. Contact your U.S. Senators and ask them to contact the State Department
to bring pressure to bear.
4. Contact Ambassador Dr. Maleeha Lodhi at the Embassy of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan in Washington, D.C. at (202) 939-6200 or email him at
parepwashington@erols.com
5. In California contact Senator Barbara Boxer: E-mail is
senator@boxer.senate.gov Phone (213) 894-5000
and
Senator Diane Feinstein: (website) Feinstein.senate.gov Phone (415) 393-0707
If you live outside the U.S., please contact the appropriate government
agency to call this matter to their attention or see www.iheu.org for
further information.
The Evil Skeptic
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
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