Pakistan: Christian couple freed after death sentence withdrawn

We are so grateful you persevered in prayer for Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar. The Christian couple were released from prison last June, after enduring eight years on death row for a crime they didn’t commit.

They were acquitted of all charges by the Lahore High Court on 3 June 2021.

CSW has worked with our partners advocating for their release since the pair were convicted under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws in 2014. They were condemned despite a lack of evidence, after being accused of sending text messages disrespecting Islam’s Prophet Mohammad. The couple are both illiterate and unable to text.

A lawyer representing the Christian couple says international pressure, particularly the EU resolution adopted in April 2021, played a ‘vital role’ in their sentence being overturned.