Pakistan Supreme Court overturns death penalty on Christian mother on death row for blasphemy.

Since 1987, upwards of 1200 people have been charged with blasphemy. The number of accusations soared from just one in 2011 to more than 100 in 2014. According to Human Rights Watch, upwards of 250 stand accused of blasphemy in Punjab province alone. A disproportionate number of those accused are Christians.

At least 16 others, beside Asia, are on death row.

Christians make up less than 3 per cent of the population of Pakistan, where Islamic extremism is spreading. During Easter 2016, a suicide bomber targeted Christians at a park in Lahore, killing more than 70. Most of the victims were women and children - and the majority were Muslims.

In March the previous year, suicide bombers detonated two devices outside churches in Youhanabad, a Christian area of Lahore, killing 15 and injuring 80.

'Repeal the laws'

Release International, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, is pressing for Pakistan's widely abused blasphemy laws to be repealed and has long called for Asia to be acquitted, set free and protected.

'The blasphemy laws are being used to fuel the flames of intolerance. That's why they must be repealed,' says Release CEO Paul Robinson.

'Pakistan must review every blasphemy case and repeal these notorious laws which target Christians and other minorities and are often invoked to whip up violent persecution.

'Time and again, we have seen these laws invoked to destroy lives and encourage extremism.

'All too often, even when the courts confirm a person's innocence, vigilantes will take the law into their own hands and murder those who have been accused, often without a shred of evidence.

'We call on the government of Pakistan to abolish the blasphemy laws and create a society where every Pakistani citizen is free to exercise their faith and live in peace with their neighbours.

'To draw a line under this violent persecution will demand courage,' says Paul Robinson. 'It will take courage to do the right thing and draw a line through the law that underpins this hatred. The blasphemy law must be struck off the statute books. It must be repealed.'

Pakistan's blasphemy law was created in 1860 by the British rulers of India to try to keep the peace between different religious groups. Pakistan inherited the law after its creation in 1947, but it was revived in the 1980s by the sixth president of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, to fulfil his agenda of creating a state ruled by Sharia (Islamic law).