Douglas Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, has today written to the Foreign Secretary asking him to make immediate representations to Pakistan’s Government regarding the sentencing of Mr Mohammad Asghar.

Mr Asghar, 69 of Edinburgh, was sentenced to death for blasphemy by a court in Pakistan last week despite being diagnosed as having a mental illness.

The full text of the letter is below:

Rt Hon William Hague MP, Foreign Secretary
27 January 2014

Dear William,

I am writing to raise the case of 69 year-old Muhammad Asghar from Edinburgh, who last week was convicted and sentenced by a court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Mr Asghar was convicted of blasphemy, which under Pakistan’s criminal code carries a punishment of death.

It is reported that the court ignored evidence to suggest that Mr Asghar has a history of mental illness, despite his lawyers stating that he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has received treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh.

Britain is clearly and vocally opposed to the use of the death penalty in response to any crime, and I welcome the unequivocal statements made by the Government on this issue in the past.

I would like to urge you to now urgently raise the case of Mr Asghar with the Pakistani Authorities and encourage them to grant Mr Asghar immediate access to his legal representatives.

In addition, I would be grateful if you could set out what representations the British High Commissioner in Islamabad has made to Pakistan’s Government regarding the use of the death penalty.

Yours ever,

Douglas.

Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP
Shadow Foreign Secretary