Pakistan suspended mobile phone networks in major cities on Friday and many schools were closed as Islamist groups protested for a third day against the acquittal of a Christian woman facing the death penalty for blasphemy
The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, and ordered her freed.
She had been living on death row since 2010 after being convicted under Pakistan’s tough blasphemy laws.
The case outraged Christians worldwide and has been a source of division within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help Bibi were assassinated.
The Supreme Court decision enraged hardline Islamists, in particular, members of a group called the Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP), who have taken to the streets to call for the death of the judges who made the decision and the ouster of the government. Read more