Pakistani President pardons Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will pardon a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, the governor of Punjab state told CNN on November 23.

"What basically he's made it clear is that she's not going to be a victim of this law," Gov. Salman Taseer told CNN International's "Connect the World" program.

"I mean, he's a liberal, modern-minded president and he's not going to see a poor woman like this targeted and executed. ... It's just not going to happen," Taseer said.

The 36-year-old farm worker was taken into custody by police in June last year and was convicted by a lower court on Nov. 8. She has been in prison since then, with her case drawing international media attention as well as appeals by human rights groups, and, according to Pakistani media, Pope Benedict.

The woman was arrested for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad after a dispute with fellow workers in the town of Nankana in Pakistan’s Punjab province.