Bhutto Criticizes Death Sentence; Clerics File Suit
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Muslim clerics filed contempt charges against Pakistan’s prime minister Wednesday for criticizing a court after it sentenced a 14-year-old boy to hang for blasphemy.
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said she was “surprised, shocked and saddened” by the death sentence, mandatory under blasphemy laws. Although she said she will not intervene, the clerics saw her criticism as contempt of court.
Most observers expect the charges against Bhutto to be dismissed, but they underscore the government’s awkward position.
Bhutto is trying hard to improve Pakistan’s human rights record before she visits the United States in April. But if her government speaks out against the verdict, it risks a backlash from Muslim extremists closely watching the case.
Salamat Masih, 14, and his uncle, Rehmat Masih, 40, were sentenced last week to hang after being convicted of writing anti-Islamic graffiti on a mosque wall in Lahore.
The Masihs, who are Christian, have appealed.
Human rights activists say the blasphemy laws are too vague.
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