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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

8 Christian prisoners of conscience on death row in Pakistan

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Pakistan, blasphemy laws
At least 8 Christians remain on death row in Pakistan after being convicted under Islamic law of “blasphemy”.

No Christians have been executed for “blasphemy”, but many of them have been languishing in prison for years, according to statistics provided by CLAAS (Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement), which is supported by Barnabas Fund.

Christian mother-of-five Aasia Bibi was released after spending eight years on death row when the Supreme Court acquitted her on 31 October 2018, but it remains uncertain if her release was a “landmark ruling” that will improve the plight of Pakistan’s Christian minority – around 2% of the population, or about 4 million.

The court freed Aasia Bibi because of flimsy and contradictory evidence, while simultaneously confirming that those who break the “blasphemy” law should be punished.

On 1 May 2019, police declared Christian Farhan Aziz innocent of "blasphemy" and released him after nine months in custody. 

At the time of Farhan’s arrest, an angry mob armed with steel rods and petrol cans congregated in a Christian area of Gujranwala, but police intervened to prevent an attack on Christians’ homes.

Pakistan is a country where the mere accusation of “blasphemy” against Muhammad is enough to incite a vigilante killing by a mob of angry Muslims. 

If a Christian is not lynched, then he or she can find themselves arrested and charged with “defiling the name” of Muhammad, a crime under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code that carries a mandatory death penalty.

Christians are often falsely accused of “blasphemy” by Muslims and the superiority given to a Muslim’s testimony compared to a non-Muslim makes it difficult for Christians to receive justice.

Source: Barnabas Fund, Staff, July 12, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Pakistan
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